Forbidden Love
by Lady1Venus
Summary: Rewritten. Jushiro Ukitake is sent to the World of the Living to protect a human. Unable to protect her in the living world, he takes her back to the Soul Society where he feels he can protect her better. In the mean time the Soul Society become aware this new foe is someone from their past. What does this foe want and why does the woman hold the key? Rating for later scenes
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Notes:** Set after the defeat of Aizen but before the Reigai and Lost Substitude arc. Ichigo lost his powers right after the fall of Aizen but they were revived shortly after he lost them. The idea of why he regained his powers will be later explained. The characters Beck, Sasha and Sasha ex's husband are mine. All other characters belong to Tite Kubo. I had this story up once before, but took it down as I've done some major re-hauling, changing characters and expanded it further._

 **Forbidden Love**  
 **Chapter 1**

With the defeat of Captain Aizen, everyone thought Gin had parish, but thanks to Orihime, she was able to bring him back and heal his wounds as if he was never killed. He was grateful but at the same time wanted to die because now he had to answer for his crimes. Gin wasn't the only Orihime saved. Though there wasn't much left of Kaname, she was able to use her powers to bring back Kaname just like she had done with one of the Arrancars Grimmjow had killed. All she needed was their blood and from that, her powers were able to reconstruct the body.

Gin and Kaname's lives were spared but the two were made accountable for their actions and were sent to prison for a time. Both gave a plea bargain of being controlled. Aizen had Gin controlled from the time he first became a Soul Reaper little over 100 years ago and where Aizen had created his own Hokyoku, he was able to place Kaname under his control as well, but the blind man never seen it happen, until his death.

While the debate was still out on what to do with the traitors, a new and terrible face appeared in Heuco Mundo, claiming what Aizen once had. Now the word was out this new foe was after very strong spiritual energies on Earth, but no one knew who the new sovereign was. Getting the aide of Kisuke once again, who lived in the World of the Living, Kisuke was able to get sights on all high spiritual energies in Karakura Town.

In light of this new threat, Head Captain Yamamoto began organizing teams to search out these high-spirited humans for protection. But there was one who kept eluding Kisuke's radar. Though he could sense this person, sometimes the person's spiritual pressure would suddenly disappear and then reappear later. It was very peculiar and it reminded him of Ichigo when his would fluctuate before he learnt to control it.

Wanting to get this matter dealt with, Head Captain Yamamoto, in his office, called forth one of his best former students, Jushiro Ukitake to meet with him in private. Most of the other Captains were busy. They were either dealing with picking up the slack with the three Squads who had no Captains or helping their Squad members with those they needed to protect.

"You wanted to see me?" Jushiro asked as he walked into the room. He was the only Captain who really didn't have a task to deal with. Since the battle with the Arrancars, and was recuperating from his injuries by Coyote Starrk, Jushiro was dealing with matters of a personal issue. With Captain Unohana busy healing those wounded in the battle, Jushiro was dying and had no one able to attend to his injuries. Orihime, wanted to help him since he was the one who housed her during her stay in the Soul Society when she trained for the war.

"Yes, I have an assignment for you, since your health has been good as of late."

"When Orihime Inoue healed me from my wounds after the battle with the Arrancars, she seemed to have partially healed my illness as well. I don't ever remember feeling this healthy before."

"So I've been told," Yamamoto nodded. "Ever since you were a toddler, you have had an extremely rare illness and now to have most of that illness gone, it has to be an amazing feeling for you. But that isn't why I called you."

"Of course, sir."

"Jushiro, you know I've been sending teams to the World of the Living, setting up protections to those with extremely high spiritual pressure. I now require your assistance in searching for one in Karukara Town. This one keeps going off the sensors. Not even Squad 12 can track it down."

"Why me, sir?" he asked, perplexed to be given such a mission. It had been an extremely long time since the last time he actually had a mission in the human world.

"The latest intelligence report states the person we are looking for is often found at the Town's library. Kisuke Urahara tells me there's a formal function tonight. Something called a 'grand re-opening' of the library. You are to go and check it out," Yamamoto ordered. With his explanation, he knew Jushiro would see why he was picked. Jushiro was a man who loved to read and when he wasn't sick, would spend many of his spare time, in the Seireitei's library.

Knowing there wasn't going to be any way to persuade the man out of the idea, Jushiro bowed his head. "Yes Head Captain. I will check it out right away," he responded. He turned away, leaving the office to retrieve his Soul Candy pack and travel to the human world where he would speak with Kisuke about going to the function at the library. It had been a long time since he had to travel to Earth and disguise himself as a human.

Upon telling Rukia he was leaving for a mission and placed her in charge of the squad until he returned, Jushiro left for the Living World, appearing easily in a park nearby Kisuke's shop. He swiftly made his way to the man's shop who, after considering his options with Aizen gone, decided to remain in the Living World though his exile had been lifted. Kisuke had made himself very comfortable living in the human world, able to fit in quite nicely. He wanted to remain to continue helping as he had in the past, being the eyes and ears for the Soul Society.

"Kisuke Urahara?" Jushiro called, once entering the store. Immediately, he came upon two kids. "Oh, hello."

"You're from the Soul Society?" asked the boy.

"I am," Jushiro answered, confused.

Turning, he placed a hand close to his mouth. "Hey Mr. Kisuke!" he yelled. "One of your former associates is here!" He turned back to Jushiro. "He'll be here in a minute."

As the boy stated, Jushiro only had to wait a moment before he heard the voice of the former Squad 12 Captain.

"Well, well Captain Ukitake. I didn't expect you to pop around," responded Kisuke as he slid open the door that separated his shop from his house.

Jushiro looked up. "No. This is a surprise to me as well, but you know how it is when the Head Captain gives an assignment."

"I suppose you're right."

"I need your assistance. I'm in need of a gigai."

"Straight to the point, are you?" Yanking out his fan, Kisuke grinned. "You've come to the right place. I take it then you are here because of that one who keeps eluding the sensors?"

"I am," Jushiro nodded.

Kisuke nodded. "Ginta, go and get me a gigai for this good Captain."

"Right away," answered the boy as he rushed past the man, going to the back storage room.

Kisuke looked at the good Captain. "I'm surprised you were sent and not someone else."

"I am too, but apparently there was no one else. The Head Captain has many of us scattered throughout the world. I will also need something appropriate to wear. The one we're looking for may be at the function this evening."

"Oh yes. The Library," Kisuke replied. "After sometime of planning and fundraising, the library was able to expand. The event is more of a gala so that means you'll need a suit and tie for this function. In this world many people have dropped using kimonos for formal functions."

"That is what I was told by Renji and Rukia earlier today."

The two were interrupted when Ginta returned with the gigai. Getting a refresher course, Jushiro soon left to go and purchase a suit for the function tonight. Once getting what he needed, he left back to the Soul Society to get ready. He wanted Rukia's opinion on his looks before he left.

As Jushiro was getting ready, dressed in a gigai, Shunsui arrived at his estate to see him off. Jushiro was dressed in a nice black suit and tie, with Rukia giving him the final touches.

"Now this is something I've never seen before," Shunsui chuckled.

Rukia swiftly turned. "Captain Kyoraku!"

Jushiro turned to his friend. "Tell me about it. I've done some research on what the Head Captain wishes for me to do. I'm attending a human function."

"What sort of function?"

"Something about a grand reopening of a library," the white haired man commented. "There is one high spiritual human who keeps eluding everyone but sources have that one person we're looking for has been located at the library often."

Shunsui elbowed his friend. "Well just maybe you'll finally find your perfect match."

"Shunsui," Jushiro gasped with a nervous chuckle. "I highly doubt that. Besides you know relationships between Soul Reapers and humans is strictly forbidden."

"And yet young Ichigo and his two little sisters are results of one such as that," Shunsui added. "I'm only joking with you. Though it would be nice to see you settle down, now that you have a chance at life. You've already wasted your life and dedication to the Soul Society and your Squad."

Shaking his head, knowing he was right, Jushiro looked to his short friend. "Well I best be going. Rukia, how do I look?"

"Like a human," she answered. "And really good. Now remember what I told you. Do your best to mingle with the other humans."

Shunsui nodded. "Probably your best bet is to watch what the others do and perhaps spin it around to your style, but keeping it with human traditions."

"Good idea. Hopefully, I will only be gone a short time." Jushiro picked the coat he purchased, putting it on over his suit. Carefully, he flipped his hair out from the coat to let it drape down his back. He kept his hair down as he left for the Senkaimon.

/ - / - / - /

In her apartment, Sasha Rufleton was getting ready for the grand reopening of the town's library. The re-opening was a celebration for renovations made to the building as a new wing was built on. When the construction was completed, the library had to be closed for a month to allow the new wing to be connected to the main area from the inside.

Sasha was a young single woman with long auburn hair, which was pulled back in a twist. Her bangs were pulled back to either side of her face, showing off her blue eyes, which shone with excitement but her eyes also held deep wounds from a past she wasn't fond of speaking about. She stood five foot and five inches and with her heels, made her even taller.

To many she was a beautiful woman who was raised by her grandparents. There was one asset she had, which was something she wasn't always happy to have, and that was large breasts. Not as large as some she'd met but she was larger than many. Many men often ogled at her and it was something that disgusted her.

Two years ago, she ended her marriage and moved on with her life. She had married shortly after graduating high school at the age of 18 but after two years into the marriage, things began to slide down hill for her. For nearly four years her marriage became a life of hell. If she were still married, she'd be celebrating her 8th anniversary.

Her marriage from hell ended when she finally got the courage to run for help and file charges against her husband, which landed him in jail and finally she was free to live her life the way she had always wanted to. After leaving him, it only took one year for the divorce papers to be pushed through. Once unbound from her husband, she took a job at the town's library.

Giving herself one more look over in the mirror, she turned away and left her apartment to hail down a cab and left for the party. Even though she had her own car, she didn't want to drive when there was a risk she would be drinking tonight.

For several years, the library had wanted to expand but never had funds to do so. At least not until Sasha began to work there and was able to bring the library out of the rut it was in. With her help in raising enough money through time and effort, they were able to raise enough money to expand. One of her dreams was to see the library expand and it now was becoming the real deal. With her being a big part of the expansion, she was asked to attend in her own honor of a job well done.

Upon arriving at the library, the place was already bustling with people. The entrance was currently blocked off for the time being with a ribbon going across the entrance. With what people could see inside, all the books and shelves that were once in the library were stored elsewhere, the basement, and ready to be placed once the party ended. That left much floor space for food and dancing.

"Oh good you're here!" someone shouted out.

Sasha only had time to pay her taxi fare before turning only to have someone grab her arm. She squealed in surprise just as a man with long white hair arrived. Too busy trying to prevent herself from falling, she missed the opportunity to glance around.

Jushiro was taking a look around the crowd, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He noticed right off how well he was blending in with his choice of clothing. It felt different to be in such clothing, but knew it was essential as the time period was much different than he ever really knew.

Before he had a chance to study what the other human males were doing, a squeal caught his attention. Turning to the sound, he saw an attractive woman with auburn hair, past by him with another woman pulling her along. Being close enough to them, he was able to make out what they were saying. But that wasn't the only thing that caught his attention. For a split second he felt a spike in spiritual pressure coming from one of the two women.

"Sasha! You're almost late!"

"Beck!" Sasha blurted out, trying to keep up. "Not my fault, the streets were busy."

"Well they want to do the ribbon cutting ceremony and you're the one we're waiting for. So lets move!" The woman continued to pull Sasha towards the entrance to prepare for the ribbon cutting.

Too curious on who had the spiritual pressure, Jushiro carefully made his way through the crowd. "Excuse me," he politely said as he pushed around some people wanting to get closer. He soon found himself surrounded by more people. "Pardon me." He continued to excuse himself as he went around the people when he had to.

Soon enough he stopped when his eyes caught the beautiful woman again and this time she was in front of a ribbon blocking off the library. Now he understood what the other woman was saying about a ribbon. He deduced the ribbon he saw was for part of the ceremony. It was something he never seen done before but had heard about it from other Soul Reapers.

Now that he knew where she went, he decided to take a moment and observe those around him so he could mingle better. As he watched, one eye kept trained on the mystery woman, which he could feel a power from her, but there were a few others as well he could sense as well.

"May I have your attention please?!" Sasha called out suddenly holding a microphone, which was handed to her by someone off to the side. "I want to thank you all for coming and I just have to say a few things first before everything gets underway." She paused. "First of all, I would just like to say working here at the library has been wonderful for me. I first came to work here a year ago and it became my personal goal to help this library achieve its goal of expanding. Well thanks to all my hard work and dedication, I have accomplished just that."

When she paused once again, people around applaud. Wanting to be sure he remained 'into his character', Jushiro did the same. He believed he now had done enough studying in how to present himself properly without drawing attention to himself. He couldn't help but note how wonderful the woman looked in her strapless red and deep purple gown, which matched her hair perfectly. Top of the dress was red with a deep purple, which draped only to her hips and flared out into a form fitting red skirt. Below the skirt showed a deep purple ruffle and white to the ground over top of a white under skirt. He could barely make out red shoes on her feet.

He continued to watch as someone handed the woman a large pair of scissors. For a moment, he wondered what the scissors were for and then it clicked. It's a ribbon ceremony and he did read up that with ribbon ceremonies, they'd use abnormal large scissors.

"And the last thing I'd like to say is…" She got herself into position of in the center of the ribbon with it in front of her. "I declare the library officially… Reopened!" she announced, clipping the ribbon, letting it fall to the floor, and creating another applause. "Now please, come inside and see what we have done with the new addition. The books haven't been placed in yet as this is a party and we don't want to ruin the books. There are refreshments and for the first time, music. So please enjoy yourselves."

There was a bit of a chuckle as people began to make their way into the library.

Just as everyone stepped out of the way to let the guests inside, the woman pulled Sasha from the taxi, grabbed her arm once more and pulled her away from the door, going inside. Sasha noticed she was being pulled towards a small group of people.

"Sasha, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Elijah. Elijah, this is my best friend Sasha."

Elijah looked to Sasha. "It's nice to finally meet you. Beck has told me a lot about you."

"Really?" Sasha blinked. "I hope it's all good."

"Of course," Beck laughed. "You're the one who helped me get this job after you got hired." She looked over to see another friend of hers. She then grabbed Sasha's hand once more. "There's someone else you have to meet." She didn't give Sasha any time to say anything or protest before she was dragging her over.

Jushiro watched as her friend pulled Sasha from one group of people to another. Seeing the anguish look in the pretty woman's face, he decided to intervene. Of course he didn't like seeing her being pulled around like a rag doll.

Jushiro stepped over. "Excuse me, may I have a word with you?" he asked to Sasha.

The one Sasha called Beck, looked at the man and nearly felt herself have a heart attack. He was handsome. She opened her mouth to speak but Jushiro was swift, to take Sasha's hand, leading her away from her flabbergasted friend.

"Ah, yeah… sure." Sasha was getting tired of her friend dragging her everywhere and when the strange gorgeous man grasped her hand, asking to speak with her, she was quite relieved. She looked at her mystery rescuer and gasped. Boy was he ever handsome. And standing this close without anyone around her, he looked even more gorgeous. His hair matched her dress and yet he looked young.

The two left Beck, flabbergasted. She couldn't believe what just happened. Watching the two, she shrugged and went to mingle.

When they were far enough away he gave her a gentle grin, "Lovely party isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," she replied. "Thank you. I guess my friend wasn't paying too much attention on the idea I really don't like to be dragged around."

"Yes, I know how you feel on that. I have a few friends who often like to do that. But I know they are only looking out for my best interests," he answered.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't recognize you. Have we met before?" Sasha continued to look at the man before her.

"No." He shook his head. "I'm Jushiro and it's a pleasure to meet you Miss…"

"Sasha," she answered. She didn't know why but she felt compelled to give the gentleman her name. He had beautiful features and a very gentle voice and soft smile. Even his brown eyes were soft looking and very gentle and alluring. But there was something else to his features she couldn't put her finger on. As if he had more wisdom than his looks gave.

"Sasha," he repeated, allowing the name to roll of his tongue. He had never heard quite a name like that before. "That's a very lovely name." He did have to admit the name had a nice ring to it.

She smiled. "Jushiro. I've never heard a name quite like that before either. It's nice." Had she only known, the man before her was someone from another world who was actually over 2000 years old.

"Yes, it's very unique," he answered with a friendly smile. "Would you like some refreshments?" he offered, letting go of her hand to allow her to link her arm into the crook of his arm, gesturing towards the entrance where many people were still making their way inside to see the new look.

"Thank you Jushiro," she answered with a giggle, noticing how charming he was. She took his invitation and the two began to make their way inside. She half snorted suddenly. "Too bad I didn't meet you eight years ago when I was 18, perhaps my life would have turned out differently."

"Oh?" he blinked as the two walked through the threshold of the building, heading straight towards the refreshment table. With all the books gone the place was huge. "Why do you say that?"

She lowered her head. "It's not big secret. Eight years ago today I got married but that didn't last, as you can tell…" she lifted her left hand showing a ringless finger. "I'm single again."

He could see the sadness in her eyes and he had a feeling the woman before him still had some major healing to do. "I'm sorry to hear that. So I take it your marriage ended on a bad note?"

"Bad note!? That's an understatement, but you have no idea how close you are." She poured herself a glass of punch and then poured one for him as well, handing it to him. She couldn't believe she was telling him this but judging by the look in his eyes, there was something about him that was trustable. " My ex's in jail for spousal abuse." She shivered at the thought.

"And from that..." she spoke a little more quietly. "I ended up having a miscarriage. That was two years ago. It's very hard to move on after losing a baby, but I have though, and not a day goes by that I don't think about him or her." She stared at the table, remembering that horrible night, which was the night she finally got the courage to say enough was enough. It didn't take her long to file charges, which landed him in a maximum-security prison.

Jushiro's eyes widened in surprise. How could anyone do such a thing to a woman? "I am terribly sorry for your loss. I could never imagine what it would have been like to go through something like that. It reminds me of a friend of mine who lost his wife to an illness some time ago." Jushiro could remember how Byakuya reacted when he lost Hisana to a horrible fever all those years ago.

"Terrible," Sasha said. "Losing someone you love is always sad." Just then music began playing. Sasha turned to see a few couples making their way to the dance floor. "Fun, fun. Just my luck. I love to dance and there's no one to dance with." Her mind began to wonder if Jushiro knew how to dance. Realizing what she was thinking, she turned her head away from him, ashamed in thinking such thoughts about a stranger.

Jushiro noticed the people making their way to the dance floor. "That's not necessarily true," he replied. "Would you care to dance?" He held out his hand to her, hoping she'd take the offered hand.

Sasha gasped as her head whipped around to the man. She couldn't help but smile at his offer. Putting down her drink, she took his hand, allowing herself to be pulled away from the table.

"Thank you," she said quietly. She couldn't believe it. Never in her life had a man offered her a dance. She seriously hoped this man was for real and he wasn't just trying to get her into bed. If that were the case, he would be sorely mistaken. Since she left her ex-husband, she took karate lessons and now knew how to defend herself.

He led her to the dance floor all the while looking at how the other couples were dancing. Much had changed since the last time he was in the World of the Living on a mission. As soon as he was as close to the center as he could get, he stopped, circling his free arm around her waist. He kept a hold of her hand. Her hand, on reflex, rose up to rest against his shoulder and the two began to sway to the music like everyone else was.

"From the looks of things Jushiro, it would seem you've been to formal functions before. Me, on the other hand, often find them dreadful and usually end up getting drunk so I don't have to remember the night, but tonight I think I may just stay sober and remember this one."

"Guess that makes me lucky then," he answered with a smile. "I would hate to see a lovely lady such as yourself become too drunk to move. My best friend loves to get drunk, then again he can drink a lot before falling over."

"Sounds like Beck. She knows how to hold her liquor better than me. Then again, she's a big flirt towards the men."

Jushiro lightly laughed. "My friend Shunsui is like that to women. He chases them like crazy. But when I need his advice, he's always there for me. As the same for when he needs my advice."

Sasha looked up into Jushiro's face. He was much taller than her. She only went to his shoulders. She guessed he was probably a little over six feet. "Friends can be hard to come by. But you really know who your friends are when you're back into a corner. They will always come and bail you out."

"That is so true," he agreed.

Over in the corner, Beck watched the two danced, quietly talking. She smiled at them. "Whoever you are, you just made my friend's night. You hurt her, I'll kill you." If only she knew the type of man he really was, she wouldn't have anything to worry about.

Soon enough the song ended a more upbeat tune began. Jushiro and Sasha made their way off the dance floor and strolled back to the refreshment table where they grabbed their drinks and then proceeded towards food, getting a plate of food. Once they had what they wanted, he went to a nearby table and she followed, taking a seat across from him. For Jushiro, remembering what he was there for, he began to scan the room, trying to find his target. He had no idea who he was looking for. He only knew this person had strong spiritual pressure and it was going to attract a powerful Hollow. But there was one big question constantly running through his mind. Who took Aizen's place?


	2. Chapter 2

**Forbidden Love**  
 **Chapter 2**

With Jushiro and Sasha sitting at a table together, the two continued to talk, getting to know each other. Sasha couldn't believe she was literally talking to a total stranger about her life. Of course he was talking to her about his life. While the two talked, Sasha noticed Jushiro's eyes kept drifting up, scanning the room. At first she didn't think anything of it and tried her best to ignore it, but after what seemed like the hundredth time, it began to get on her nerves.

"Am I keeping you from someone?" she suddenly asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Jushiro's eyes snapped from scanning the room to gaze at her. "No. What makes you say that?"

"Ok. I may be only 26 but I'm not blind or stupid."

He could see she was getting defensive and needed to calm her down. "I don't think you're either one. I think you're a brave young woman to stay married to an abusive man for so long. And you're very smart too. It took you only six months to raise enough money to give the library its dream. That is amazing."

"Then why do you keep looking up and gazing around the room? I've been watching your eyes and you keep drifting them away."

This was not something he was expecting from her. He didn't think she would notice he kept looking around the room. "I'm sorry," he apologized, now understanding why she was a little defensive all of a sudden. No doubt from her point of view, he was gazing around the room, distracted as if he didn't want to be there.

"It's just…" what could he tell her. He couldn't very well tell her the truth that would open up too many doors for questions, which was something he couldn't afford. "In a sense I am waiting for someone or rather looking for someone. But it's not what you think."

"How do you know what I think?" she asked suddenly, not liking where this was going.

"Sasha, it's the type of job I do," he answered, eyes focused on her. "I can't go into details of it. But what I can tell you is I'm afraid someone will come here tonight and ruin this gathering and I'm trying to prevent that from happening. You worked too hard for this."

"Oh…" Was her only answer.

"Why don't we have another dance? And then I'll leave your side and complete the task I was originally sent here to do."

She gave him a slow nod, remaining silent. She wasn't sure what else to say. He probably had a job as a PI or something and if that was the case, she was in perfect good hands.

Grasping her hand once more, the two stood and he led her to the dance floor once again to give her one last dance. With one arm around her waist and the other in her hand, he then began to have them sway to the music. Jushiro kept his eyes on her the whole time. Never before had he found himself enjoying the company of a woman in the human world.

As the two danced, Jushiro's body suddenly tensed. He felt a strong spiritual pressure approaching the building. His eyes suddenly filled with worry.

"Jushiro?" Sasha asked as she felt his muscles tense up and saw his eyes darting around. Just then she too felt something and it was something strong and didn't like it.

"Sasha… I…" Before he could finish his sentence, there was a sudden crash through a wall. Their dancing, along with others, ceased immediately as screams emitted from people nearby the wall. The music instantly stopped as people were slammed into a wall.

There at the, now, huge hole in the wall, was a giant monster with a huge white mask. Sasha froze in fear at the beast in the room. "Dear god," she breathed.

"A Hollow," Jushiro breathed as his eyes scanned around, assessing what the others were doing. From the corner of his eye, Sabrina had not moved. There was no time for explanations. Whipping his body around, he pushed Sasha behind him. "Get out of here!" he snapped.

"What…what is that?" she whispered.

Jushiro gawked, surprised. She could see the Hollow. This was not the time for fool proof lies. "The very thing I've been watching for now get..." He didn't have time to finish as the Hollow looked down and immediately gave a howl and swung its hand. Getting hit, he was slammed into a wall, knocking the wind out of him.

"Jushiro!" Sasha cried out as she watched the man fly across the room like a rag doll into a nearby wall. No longer could see really see people running for their lives.

"No need to be concern for him," the hollow grounded out as it fixed its eyes on the woman. "I've come for you…"

Sasha, frightened, turned to the ugly creature. She gave a scream before taking several steps back. She had seen a creature with a white mask before but it was from the distance. This close, she could see how hideous it was and tall.

"Screaming won't help you," the creature replied in a deep throaty voice.

She took two quivering steps back. "Get away... from me..."

The beast grinned able to sense not only her fear but power from her as well. "So it is true. Your fear is generating a lot of spiritual pressure. Your power will be a great achievement for me."

"Power…" Sasha quivered, wondering what he was going on about. She took another few more steps back as the people in the room continued to scream and run. She wanted to run but had a very good idea the large beast in front of her would be able to grab her before she could get five feet away.

Over where Jushiro landed, it took him several seconds to get his bearings in what just happened. When he was hit, the wind was knocked out of him, but now was able to get his breathing under control. Luckily for him, he was only a soul and could handle more abuse to his body than a human could. If he had been human, he would have been knocked unconscious and bleeding. Looking to the wall, he noticed there was an indent of where his body crashed. This was not good. A sudden scream diverted his attention. He looked over to Sasha, seeing the Hollow had her cornered.

"It can't be…" he breathed able to feel a strong amount of spiritual pressure from her. The power was just about as strong as young Ichigo Kurosaki's. Was Sasha the one he was sent down to protect? Whether she was the target or not, he had to help her and fast. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his soul candy dispenser and popped one into his mouth. In an instant, his real body was expelled from the gigai, leaving it with a candy soul.

"Get Sasha out of here!" He yelled to his gigai as he ran towards the Hollow to get between her and the thing.

"Right away!" answered the gigai in a different voice. He jumped away from the wall, just as Jushiro made a mad dash towards the frightened woman. He had to protect her.

"What the hell!?" she yelled, just as two Jushiros appeared in her vision. One was wearing the suit she'd just been dancing with and then there was another dressed in black Hakama pants and black kimono jacket with a white haori over top of it. Strap to his side was a sword. His long hair covered the symbol on the back of his haori.

The Jushiro in the suit grabbed her hand, pulling her backwards. "We have to get out of here!"

Sasha was in too much shock now to really hear what the fake Jushiro said to her or that his voice was different. But the moment she felt someone grab her arm, to pull her aside, she immediately resisted.

"You will not go any further!" answered the real Jushiro to the Hollow. He had one hand holding his scabbard while the other was poised on the hilt ready to draw out his sword in an instant.

"I want the woman!" the monster said. "My master wishes to have her!"

Jushiro's looked back towards Sasha. He could see his candy soul was having a little bit of trouble in getting the woman out of there. This was not good. She had to be the human Squad 12 was having a hard time tracking. He could feel her spiritual pressure continued to spike. By now the rest of the humans, who were not injured, had vacated the building. The ones, who were slammed into the wall, were trying to move. Some needed medical attention.

He turned his attention back to the monster. "You will not have her, not while I'm around."

"You should be easy to kill, Captain Ukitake," the monster said.

Captain? What did that monster mean? Sasha was completely rooted to the spot she was at. Her fear for the monster and seeing two Jushiros before her caused her body not to have the will to move. The gigai Jushiro was trying to pull her away, but wasn't having much luck.

"So you know of me," Jushiro stated, surprised.

"Everyone knows of the Captains who trashed Los Noches, defeating Lord Aizen. Now you have him in your prisons. But you can't stop me from taking what is mine. She will become one of us and do my bidding."

"Your bidding?" Jushiro kept a hand on the hilt of his sword. He knew in moments, he'd have to fight. He had hoped Sasha would get out of the way so she wouldn't witness it but with her being in so much terror, he couldn't blame her for being rooted on the spot.

"Hand her over to me before anymore pitiful humans get hurt or killed."

"You are not harming anyone else!" Jushiro insisted as he made a decision. Eyes hard on the beast before him, he finally unsheathed his Zanpakuto.

"She is my wife," the monster demanded. "Now hand her over at once!"

Jushiro's eyes widened. Wife? How was this possible? Humans never married hollows. There was only one thing that could come to mind of that and that was the hollow was Sasha's husband? But the only way that was possible was for him to have died, but he was in jail, wasn't he?

"That's impossible!" she shook in fear, indicating she heard what the beast announced. "My ex is in jail…" Her voice froze as the monster took a step forward.

The beast laughed. "I was. But thanks to your harsh charges against me, one of the inmates killed me. Being dead I was able to leave that filth and search for you where I was then consumed by a Hollow and made into one of them. Now, I can extract my revenge. You're coming with me, you slut!"

Jushiro did not like the Hollow calling the woman a slut. He might not have known her that long, but he could clearly see she wasn't one. She was the head organizer for the now ruined fundraiser. He held out his free hand to keep Sasha behind him. "As I said, you have to get past me."

"Like I said, that should be easy." The Hollow then opened its mouth.

"A cero!" Jushiro gasped as he saw the Hollow was charging up for a cero. Holding the sword with his right hand, he brought the left up to lay flat against the guard, wrist pulled down, calling out, "All waves, rise now and become my Shield. Lightning! Strike now and become my blade!" His sword then split into two thin blades resembling fishing javelins with reverse prongs on the dull side of the blade, that were connected by a cord lined with several small charms. "Sogyo no Kotowari!"

Sasha's eyes were wide as saucers as she watched his sword turn from a single blade to a double blade with a cord attached. Who was this guy? From the moment she saw two Jushiros she watched in frozen horror as the mystery Jushiro interacted with the beast.

The monster then fired the red energy ball at Jushiro who was quick to lean his sword up, absorbing the blast into his left blade, releasing it back to the monster from the right. The monster had no time to react before the cero blast hit him instead, injuring him, sending him flying, crashing into another wall on the other side of the room.

Jushiro stood, standing tall as he kept his right arm aimed out from where the attack came from. His other arm laid loosely at his side, keeping the blade of his sword slightly off the floor.

Knowing it was wounded, a loud howl released from its large masked mouth. "RRRRHOOOOOAHHHH!" A taloned hand came up to grab its side where it was wounded. "This isn't over Soul Reaper!" It then vanished, leaving for Heuco Mundo.

Seeing it was now safe, Jushiro turned towards the frightened woman. Now Jushiro had some explaining to do. He gave a sigh, what was he going to tell her. He had no doubt in his mind, she was the person he was sent to protect. He could feel her spiritual power rapidly dwindle, which also meant he now had an explanation of why her power kept appearing and disappearing. She had no idea she held such high power and fear would make it fluctuate.

She watched as he turned to her, fully showing his appearance. Her eyes followed his arms as he brought the two blades together. The blades glowed a moment before returning to appear as one blade, looking back like it did before, a katana. He then sheathed it into his scabbard, attached to the white wraparound sash at his left hip.

"Wha...what..." she took a small step back. "Is ... going... on?"

Seeing the danger had past, the gigai released her hand, stepping over to his 'master' and right before her very eyes, the two Jushiros formed back into one, leaving the one in the suit behind. He took one look at her and knew he had to tell her something and not some lie either.

"Sasha, what you just witnessed was actually my real persona fighting what is known as a Hollow."

Looking as though she was gasping for air. She rasped for breath. "You…persona… Hollow…"

In the distance sirens could be heard approaching the building. Jushiro had to act quickly. Pulling out a small little device, he turned to the public around him and then pressed the top, which it then flashed. He would need to do the same when he got outside.

"Come on, there is much to discuss and I don't wish to be here when your medical team and security arrive." He grasped her hand pulled her through the damaged building.

In too much shock, Sasha allowed the man to pull her through debris and straight outside where he then used the device again on those outside just as the sirens stopped in front of the building. Keeping a secure hold of Sasha's hand, he weaved himself around the crowds and didn't stop until they were in a nearby alleyway.

In the alley, he finally stopped and released her hand. She took that moment to lean against the wall. "Who are you?" she asked, breathlessly, not looking at him. Her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"It's complicated to explain." He looked towards the commotion of what just happened across the street. He then turned back to the woman. "Perhaps we could go to a more comfortable place." He looked around and spotted a diner a few blocks down. "May I buy you some tea or something?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked. Was this guy for real? However, her mind was protesting it but she could feel her body wanted to just collapse from what she just witnessed. But for the moment, she was refusing to let it happen. She wanted answers. She knew she was in shock. "Ah….um…coffee… please…"

"Coffee?" he blinked. He heard of that before but never seen it. He could remember Rukia and Lieutenant Abarai talk of coffee and how it had a bitter taste but was a good source of staying alert.

With a curt nod, he took her hand once more and without trying to draw attention to themselves, casually walked towards a small diner a few blocks away. Getting there, the two took a seat in a booth and waited for a waitress to step over.

"What can I get you?" the waitress asked once she stood in front of their table.

"Can we get a coffee for the lady and I'll have a tea," Jushiro replied.

"Sure, one coffee and one tea." She stepped away for a few moments only to return with a pot of coffee and two mugs. She then poured the coffee into one mug before then stepping away only to step back and fill the other with hot water and a teabag. "Is there anything else you'd like?" she asked. She set down a dish of sealed creamers.

"No, that will be all, thank you," Jushiro answered.

"Sugar please," Sasha insisted quietly.

The waitress nodded and walked a way a moment before returning with the sugar. She was quiet with seeing the two were wearing formal clothing. Rather than to get in trouble with her boss, she turned away, leaving the two to talk.

Jushiro watched as Sasha took two of the creamers, opening them and poured them into her coffee, she then took some sugar and poured some sugar in. Never before had he seen someone use sugar for their drink.

"Where shall I start?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence, taking a sip of his tea once he took the teabag out.

Sasha looked up from her coffee. "Who are you?" she whispered.

He sighed. If he was going to protect her, he might as well tell her the whole truth. "My name is Jushiro Ukitake and I come from a different world known as the Soul Society."

"Soul Society?" she blinked, grateful for sitting down. "What is that?"

"Hard to explain." He gave another sigh. "The main reason I was at the gathering was to find and protect someone with high amounts of spiritual power. I presume that is you since the Hollow was after you. I had hoped to find you before any would attack. He took a sip of his tea.

"That…that…" she stuttered.

"Hollow," he finished for her, knowing what she was wanting to say

She numbly nodded as she finally hooked her fingers around the mug and took a sip of her coffee. "Said I was his wife… and called you a Soul Reaper."

"I am a Soul Reaper. But for me, I'm known as Captain." She did not need to know what Squad he was from. "And if what that Hollow said was true in being your ex-husband, he must have died and became a Hollow, which were once human spirits."

Sasha lifted her hands. "Whoa... please, one thing at a time."

He looked to see her hand was shaking. "I know this is a lot for you to take in all at once."

"Sorry," he replied. His eyes closed a moment, before looking at her once again. "The one who attacked us is known as a Hollow and he claimed to be your ex husband. He's no longer the man you used to know." He spoke slowly, trying to help her to understand. "It is now the job of a Soul Reaper to destroy Hollows and send their spirits to where they need to be. Some go to the hell while others find peace in the Soul Society."

"So…" she paused, taking a sip. "You're job is to stop these evil monsters." That explained why she had seen others like him in the past.

"Yes. Though we also have another job of helping the spirits to leave this world, sending them to a better place before they can be touched by a Hollow."

Her eyes snapped opened, staring at him. Lifting up her hand, she replied, "Wait, wait a minute. Are you telling me you help the dead move on?!"

He nodded. "Since you were able to see me in my true form as well as the Hollow, I'm assuming you can see spirits. May I ask how long have you been able to see such things?"

"Well I…" she whispered, lowering her head. She took the stirring straw she was given and swirled it around the inside of her mug. "For as long as I can remember. My Grandmother once told me I had a special gift and one day someone would be after this gift…"

Jushiro watched her a moment. He was quite curious in how humans acted but right now wasn't the time to really be that curious. Although there was something that was intriguing him about her, she had a special gift. If he was to wager a guess, it had to be her ability to have such strong spiritual power.

"I don't wish to burden you but I had hoped to spare you of this by protecting you without drawing attention to my true intentions or who I really am. But that blew up in my face."

She looked up from her cooling coffee. "I'm sorry," she said, trembling. "But you have to give me time for this to fully go through my head. You have no idea how much I'm forcing my body to not faint."

"That is understandable," he replied, finishing his tea. "But you need to fully aware and understand how much danger you're actually in. This body you see before you isn't a real body, but it's made to look like me and when my spirit takes over this body, I control everything as if I were the body."

"N…not real…" Her head began to feel a little lightheaded as her eyes widened. "Why are the hot looking guys always out of my reach?"

He raised a brow. She thought of him as hot looking? If it weren't for Rukia spending so much time in the World of the Living, he wouldn't have known what that phrase meant. She had once told him in the last year many young girls would refer to a good-looking guy as 'hot looking'. "Thank you for the compliment… I think."

She looked up at him, realizing he heard her. Silently she groaned, lowering her head once more.

"Sasha, what you see before you is only a shell, but you also see the real me. This is what I really look like as you already saw when I removed myself from my gigai."

The information was beginning to get too much. She rested her elbow on the table, bringing her head to rest into her hand. She was seriously trying to fight the blackness that was trying to take over.

Concern immediately flashed over his face. Perhaps said a little much. "Are you, ok?" He asked her, reaching for her hand, which she recoiled back, like he was hot to touch.

She looked at him. "I feel so light headed," she admitted. "Everything you're saying is just too overwhelming." She looked up at him. Man he was hot, but in front of her wasn't a real body yet the one who fought that Hollow was and he looked identical to the fake body in front of her.

Wanting… no needing to get some fresh air, Sasha went to stand, intending on heading towards the bathroom to make a haste exit from the emergency exit. "Excuse me... I'm going to the ladies..." As she went to take one step towards the bathroom, her legs lost all motion and she stumbled forward.

Jushiro was quick to jump from his seat, causing her coffee to vibrate a little while he went to catch her. She indeed looked like she was about to about to faint but was trying her hardest not to and anyone could see that, if they were looking at her closely enough. Her eyes were wide with shock but were not fully focused on the fact she was looking at Jushiro right in the face.

"Easy now," he whispered to her. "Perhaps I should take you home. Mind telling me where you live?" He tossed some money on the table for the two drinks and carefully walked her out the door of the diner.

Feeling the fresh air, Sasha felt immediately better but still was light headed and being in the arms of a man's body that wasn't real wasn't really helping much. It felt real. As the two walked, she quietly gave her address.

Pulling out his soul candy dispenser, he popped one into his mouth once more, becoming the real body, leaving the soul candy in the gigai. Sasha felt her heart begin to race like before at the library but this time it was because of once again seeing two Jushiros.

Jushiro turned to his gigai. "Follow me," he instructed.

"Sure thing!"

Without waiting for her permission, Jushiro let go of her long enough to step behind her only to suddenly lift her into his arms.

"Wha…" she gasped.

"I'm going to take you back to your home so you may rest while my gigai follows."

"Gigai?" she blinked, looking at the now fake body with a different soul instead.

"That's what I am. Well not really. I'm a Soul Candy called Hiro. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hiro, please. You can see she's already distraught as it is."

"Right. Sorry." He took one look at her and turned back to his 'master'. "Perhaps it might be a better for me to go on ahead so you have no trouble getting her inside and then head back to Mr. Urahara and let him know in what's going on?" asked Hiro. "I doubt you'll need me anymore."

Jushiro thought a moment and nodded. "Alright, you do that." He nodded and Sasha watched as the fake body of Jushiro walked off into the night. Once he was gone, Jushiro looked to Sasha. "Now, you're dealing with the real me." As he spoke, he began to walk in the direction of her apartment. He would have flashed stepped, but he didn't want her to panic more than she already was.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked faintly as her head leaned against his shoulder, arms lightly curled loosely around his neck. She didn't want to lean on him but she had no other choice.

"As I told you," he answered gently. "You are being targeted and I've been sent to protect you."

"Why?"

He sighed. "Because you have what is known as high reiatsu and this new enemy is targeting people here in the Living World with those high levels."

"This is getting too much," Sasha said as darkness finally won out. She looked up into the concern face of the real man holding her, but her eyes were unfocused as darkness overtook her vision.

Jushiro watched in concern as her eyes slowly closed and her entire body went limp, becoming dead weight, the second her eyes were fully shut. He knew telling her that last bit of information would be too much for her. But perhaps it was for the best this way here at least, he could get her home without being seen, freaking people out in why she was hovering in mid air as if being carried. With her unconscious, he used flashstep to get to her apartment in seconds.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Notes: From this point on, things will be different from the original copy I once had. What was originally chapter 3 will now be split into two chapters as I'm going to add in new material. I'm also going to expand on their friendship from what I originally had._

 **Forbidden Love**  
 **Chapter 3**

Feeling a feather like touch on her cheek, Sasha felt herself break out of the darkness. The gesture was comforting enough; she wanted to see who was giving her comfort, which was the first for her in six years. Slowly, her eyes opened to see Jushiro sitting on the very edge of the sofa, gently caressing her cheek in a comforting manner. It was his caress that woke her. As she focused in on his snow white hair, memories came flooding back to her in how he saved her from... what was that again... oh yes a Hollow, and then he took her to a nearby diner to buy her coffee, which he dropped the biggest bomb shell she ever heard of.

The fact the man she danced with was nothing more but a hollow shell with a spirit of the real person inside, who could at anytime break out putting in a different soul into the soulless body. It was from that she began to feel faint. Although, it wasn't until he was carrying her, intending to take her to her apartment when she fully finally lost it and everything went black when he told her she was a target because her high spirit energy. Her eyes widened at the memory and then darted around.

"Wh...where am I?" she asked, nervous.

"It's ok," replied Jushiro, noting her immediate distress. "We're in your apartment. Luckily, with Hiro going ahead of us, he secured easy access to your apartment and then left."

Wanting to sit up, she began to pull herself into a sitting position. She felt his hand reach up behind her neck, lending her assistance until she was fully seated. Looking down upon herself, the throw blanket normally on the back of the sofa was now draped over her body.

"I suppose that makes sense. It would have been really hard for you to open the door with me unconscious." She looked to her window and saw the sun was beginning to rise. "Wait a minute!?" she gasped. "What time is it?"

Jushiro looked up to the window. "Morning. Your fainting spell kept you asleep all night."

"Never had a fainting spell that lasted that long," she admitted. "And you stayed with me all night?"

"As I've said, I'm here to protect you, so yes I was here. I slept a little in the chair before making a small bed on the floor." He pointed to the area where there were a few blankets.

"You can handle the floor?"

"I normally sleep on a futon at home," he answered.

Knowing she was still in her evening dress, she carefully stood up and made her way to the kitchen. He followed behind her. She poured herself a glass of juice and then turned on the kettle for tea. Since their small talk in the diner, she had a feeling he was a tea drinker.

"I'm sorry, this is a little unsettling," she answered, her back to him.

He took a seat at the table, seeing what she was doing. "I apologize. I had hope to not put either one of us in an awkward position. Soul Reapers don't normally associate themselves with humans, though it has happened from time to time, especially with those who can see us."

"So the way you are right now, no one can see you?"

"No," he answered. "Only way for humans to see us is by being in a gigai."

"The fake body..." she paused. "So getting in here must have been a little difficult."

"It did prove to be a bit of a challenge," he answered. "In all honesty, when we left the diner, I assumed you were about to faint."

"Oh… Considering I did admit that and was fighting it." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry about before," she apologized. "What had happened and then you telling me you're not from this world completely overrode my senses. But I think it's sunk in enough that I could handle whatever else you have to tell me."

"What makes you think I have more to say?" He was curious to know how she could tell.

"I can see it in your eyes." Turning to face him, she looked into his eyes as she replied. "Even now your face has 'concern' written all over it because of how I reacted. Until you told me, it never really crossed my mind about Hollows and Soul Reapers, though I've seen them before. I would just run with the rest of the public to get away."

"So you've said," he answered. "But this time, you were close to one..."

"It flipped me out. I mean I've actually seen one of your kind around town from time to time. He has a huge sword on his back with wild orange hair."

"Huge sword?" Jushiro blinked. "Oh, you mean Ichigo Kurosaki! He's actually a human who has Soul Reaper powers because of his father."

She turned away again just as she knew the kettle was boiling. Grabbing a mug, she prepared the tea and then poured the water before taking the mug and her juice and walked over to the table. Handing him the tea, she took a seat opposite of him.

"So your kind can have children with humans then?" She was mildly surprised by this new piece of information and she found her mind wondering what it would be like to be with a man of that sort of stature.

"It's been known to happen, however it's actually forbidden," Jushiro answered. "But in Ichigo's case, it's complicated and one I would rather not dwell on. He's a substitute Soul Reaper."

She nodded in understanding. She knew all too well about not wanting to discuss certain information about certain subjects. It was still a shock to her she even told him about her husband. "You carry a sword too?" she inquired, changing the subject. It was the least she could do to get off the discussion about awkward topics.

"All Soul Reapers do," he answered, sipping at his tea after removing the tea bag. "Each one is unique."

"How unique?" she asked, a bit curious, trying to have an open mind of the matter.

Closing his eyes a moment, he knew he really shouldn't tell her, but this was a very unusual situation. "Many of us just have to call out of a word, calling our Zanpakuto into what is known as a shikai state, like what you saw from mine."

"Zanpakuto?" She didn't understand the concept of that. "I thought it was just a sword."

He gently smiled at her. "It is, but our swords are not ordinary like human ones are. These have 'magical' abilities. Some like my own are known to have the ability to fire energy blasts of varied sorts. And then there are others who have just a physical type where it transforms into a different weapon. Each are unique and can be deadly no matter who the wielder is."

Sasha deeply sighed, trying to understand what he was saying. She wasn't denying what happened but had to accept it and she was doing her best to be open-minded. If she could always see ghosts and monsters, then she should be able to eventually accept what he was telling her, in time.

"What is with these Zanpakuto?" She looked down to the hilt of his sword. "Looks normal to me." Where they were sitting at the table, he was able to have his sword rest against his hip. Normally he wouldn't sit at a table with his sword attached to him, but he didn't want to take any chances.

He looked down to the hilt, seeing she was eying the weapon. "Yes, right now my Zanpakuto looks like a regular sword but that's because they're right now in a sealed state. And they will remain that way until I awaken them."

"Into what I saw earlier?"

"Exactly." Jushiro stood and removed the sword from his sash to rest it on the table before sitting back down again. "As I said, each one of us has a different command and each one will form differently. There is one where when he releases his shikai, the sword shatters into tiny blossoms of blades, which prevents him from being able to use his Zanpakuto in physical combat."

"Shikai?" she asked, puzzled once more. That was the second time he said that word.

"It's the term we use when we awaken our swords." He couldn't believe how much he was telling her. But she had to know as much as possible so he could protect her better.

She leaned her head back in her chair as she sipped at her juice. This was all confusing for her, but at least she wasn't freaking out like before. "And I take it when your swords transform it helps to fight off your enemies?"

"If they can't be defeated by normal physical contact, yes," He answered as he continued to sip his tea.

"I do have one question for you," she began after a few moments of silence. "You said 'they' when referring to your sword, what does that mean?"

He sighed, hoping she wouldn't ask about it. "Our Zanpakuto actually are living entities, which are a part of ourselves. My Zanpakuto is one of the only ones to ever actually be a double entity. Sogyo no Kotowari are twins."

She took a deep breath trying to process all this information. Seeing she was starting to have a bit trouble focusing again.

"I must apologize, this is getting too much for you,"

She looked up. "No, it's me who should be sorry. I asked and this is getting a little hard to process." She looked down at herself. "Would you mind if I change?"

"Of course. I need to touch base about my mission anyway."

She gave a nod and carefully stood up and made her way to her room so she could remove her gown. She would need to send it out to get dry cleaned. In the safety of her room, she leaned her back against the door, holding a hand to her chest.

"What the hell am I doing?" she cursed to herself, turning on the light switch. "I have a strange man in my kitchen!" She took a few deep breaths before walking over to her floor length mirror, taking a look at herself. "But he did save me and was kind of enough to tell me what is going on? But was he telling the truth?"

Reaching behind herself, she unzipped her dress, pulling off the gown. "I can't see him lying about that since I was attacked by a monster who claims to be my ex-husband and his sword did transform…"

The whole time Sasha was changing, she was literally having an argument with herself. She just could not decide whether to trust him or not. But at the same time she couldn't always see bad in men just because of one bad apple. Of course there was also the promise she made to herself of not allowing her horror of a marriage to disrupt her life in finding happiness. She was still arguing with herself when heard a soft tap at the door.

"Sasha?" Jushiro called from the other side.

Her heart nearly leapt into her throat, nearly half expecting the man to bust through the door. At least that's what her ex would have done. But the door never opened.

"Sasha?" he called again. "Is everything alright?"

She shook her thoughts. "Yeah. Just give me a moment," She replied in a shaky voice.

"Are you sure?" he asked from the door, not opening it.

"Yes. I'm fine," she rushed out. "You just startled me is all."

Looking to the bedside table, she noticed her alarm clock showing how late it was getting. She had not realized she actually zoned out while arguing with herself. Feeling like an idiot, she rushed over to her closet and quickly grabbed the first thing she could get, which happened to be a loose fitting sweat pants and matching sweater. Going over to the dresser, she quickly took a brush through her hair, and then grabbed a hair tie, pulling her auburn tresses back into a high ponytail.

Satisfied, she left her bedroom, and to her surprised he wasn't there. Making her way to the kitchen, she found him at the table again but there in front of him was a plate of food. Opposite of him, another plate of food sat with a fresh glass of juice. This was definitely not something she was expecting, especially from him. He cooked them breakfast.

"Since we haven't eaten since last night," he replied as she took a seat, "I took the liberty of making us breakfast."

"Thank you," she said, taking a bite. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head at the sweet tasting bite she took. Forcing herself to chew and then swallow, she greatly enjoyed the taste. "I've never tasted anything like it!"

"You like it?" he asked after swallowing what he bit into.

"Like it? I love it," she exclaimed.

He smiled and then the two ate in comfort silence. Once they were done, Jushiro offered to take her dishes and place them in the sink. She again thanked him and retreated into the living room to again sit on the sofa, curling her feet up.

He soon came into the living room, taking a seat beside her. It was then he noticed her clothing. He had never seen anything like it before. But she was human and he knew humans dressed differently. Over nearby on the wall behind her, he could see a clock hanging, indicating it was still morning.

"So..." she began after several moments of silence. "What now?"

Jushiro looked to her. "I am to stay with you until the situation is resolved. Afterwards, I will return back to the Soul Society where we probably will never see one another again."

She lightly snorted. "Well that's a bit harsh. That means you're going to need..."

"My gigai, yes. I've already dealt with that. In a couple hours, I will be able to walk the streets with you and people will see me."

Bringing a hand to her head, she sighed. "Which means I need to deal with two of you at once."

"Unfortunately, yes." He too did not like the idea. "Is there anything you need to do?"

"Yes, I need to find out what happened at the library and talk with my best friend Beck. Also need to take my dress to get it cleaned."

"Perhaps when my gigai arrives, we can do those errands and you can show me around," he suggested.

"I suppose." With a huff, she leaned backwards against the couch, frustrated. "What to do now?"

He shook his head. "I'm sure you have more questions."

Lifting her head, she regarded him. "I do. Where did you learn to cook? I never had a breakfast quite like that before."

He gave a smile and began speaking about his family and how he knew how to cook. The more he spoke, the more questions she had. He even briefly spoke about his siblings and how he's the oldest of sight siblings.

The two spent the time, while waiting, talking about the Soul Society and how Soul Reapers worked. Each time Jushiro spoke of something new Sasha didn't fully grasp, he would break it down, allowing her time to absorb everything. He knew it wasn't proper to tell her everything, but her life was endanger and he wasn't going to leave her in the dark for anything. He couldn't afford that.

Eventually the topic switched to her high spirit levels, which was the reason why she originally fainted in the first place. She had to fully understand what was at stake if he didn't stick around to protect her. She had no tamed amount of power and someone from Heuco Mundo wanted her and even went so far as to recruit her ex-husband to go and retrieve her.

In time, Sasha began to feel uncomfortable on the sofa, and slowly stood. She then turned to regard him, seeing him in his proper glory of being a Soul Reaper with the haori. "I guess that explains how I was able to see that Hollow, who was once my ex-husband."

"Yes, your high amount of spirit energy, known as spiritual pressure, is the reason why he was attracted to you. And with me beside you, I can now sense your power. Once he's defeated, your ex-husband probably will not be resting in the Soul Society, but will go to hell."

She snorted. "He deserves to go to hell for the hell he put me through. I lost so much of my young adult life because of him." She sighed. "So on Earth, which you call 'World of the Living', people with high spiritual pressures are the only ones who can see you and the Hollows?" she asked, finally fully grasping what he had been telling her.

"Yes, that's about it," Jushiro explained. "Glad to see you're able to grasp this."

"Trust me, I'm not. It will take me awhile to really fully understand, but what happened last night, I can't just play dumb and ignore it. In the past I could but not now. People were hurt, maybe even killed and I would have been too if not for you."

He then gave a smile. "Well you can rest easy. There were no deaths last night, just many wounded."

She couldn't believe how sweet he was to her. Telling her things she probably thought were completely forbidden and even made her breakfast, he was just too good to be true. Of course his smile was just so charming. It was hard to believe that a kind and gentle man as Jushiro could even exist? And the most unusual part was they only just met several hours ago.

She looked at his gentle smile and felt herself wanting to melt. This was nearly a dream come true for her to actually find a man who was kind and gentle. She knew they existed but it was like one to one million ratio. And his gorgeous white hair was soft to the touch. Lucky for her, she was able to figure that out when he had carried her and her arms were around his neck. She was able to feel the silky texture of his hair against her fingers.

"Thank you for your kindness," she added, realizing she was staring into his handsome face. She took a seat again, Her eyes averted down, hoping he didn't notice her staring at him.

"I do have a question. How do you know where everything is?" she asked.

"Well, while you were unconscious, I took a look around, I hope you don't mind."

"I see…" she replied slowly. "And I take it you did this because you have to protect me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. In order for me to protect you, I have to know you."

"You didn't look in my bedroom did you?" she asked suddenly, nearly holding her breath.

"No. Why would I? That's your private room. No one should ever goes into one's private bedchambers without permission. It would be a very dishonorable act and I consider myself a very honorable man. Though I did figure out you had two bedrooms."

"You are too kind," she replied. "And yes, I have two bedrooms. One's a spare room. It's there for when guests come over. Usually my girlfriend Beck. But I suppose you will need it for the duration of your stay."

He gave a nod. Seeing he was going to be there awhile, he stood and removed his haori before sitting back down, relaxing. He draped the white coat over the arm of the couch.

Reaching over, Sasha grabbed the remote for the TV, turning it on. She didn't want to talk anymore, needing time to allow everything to sink in. She knew Jushiro was watching her and surprisingly enough she didn't find that intimidating. He was watching her, wanting to know more about humans.

Immediately on the news was reporting about the disastered re-grand opening of the library. As the two watched, Sasha became extremely worried as the reports were saying something completely opposite of what really happened.

"What the hell!?" she blurted. "That's not what happened!"

"No," Jushiro answered as he watched the report. "We have a device that can alter memories. I used that on everyone involved. It's too dangerous if the public were to learn there was such things as Soul Reapers and Hollows. I had their minds be altered to believe that is what happened."

She abruptly turned to him. "You're having them think it was an explosion that caused all that damage!? How could you? The authorities will now look for pieces of that explosive. They will demand a deep investigation of what happened and why."

He nodded. "Which is what they will find. We've already planted pieces that would make up a human made explosive and they will even eventually find a body, at least what's left of one. It will be made to look like it was once a human body."

She blinked, confused. "I don't understand. It only happened last night. How would..."

He rose his hand, silently asking her to stop talking. "After you fainted, I was contacted by those I work for and told them what happened. They acted quickly to send someone to plant the pieces needed. We are always well prepared for disasters when involving Hollows. The investigation will come to a close into thinking it was done by a suicide bomber. We may not be well versed in how humans act and dress, but we do keep track of your technology. Many humans die each day and it's a Soul Reaper's job to help those humans find a better place instead of being earth bound."

"But CSI will be able to identify the body through dental records," she argued.

"Not when there's not enough to identify the body," he reasoned. "From what I've read one needs some form of DNA to identify someone. There won't be no DNA found to make a match."

She went silent a moment as she turned back to the Tv and continued watching until the phone rang. Sighing, she stood as Jushiro continued to watch the TV. His attention was quickly diverted when Sasha began to speak loudly.

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down Beck!" she huffed. "I'm ok... No, I didn't stick around..." she paused a moment. "It was so frightening I had to get out of there and fast..." There was another pause. "Beck. Beck. Will you calm down already." She huffed again. "Alright. Alright. I have to go out later and take my dress to the dry cleaners. I will make a stop at the police station and leave my statement."

Jushiro stood and walked over to her. The way she spoke with her friend, he could tell her friend was frantic about what happened. He wanted to be sure he was there for the woman for emotional support.

"Beck. Can I talk to you later? I am going to get ready and head over there now. Yes. I promise I will call you later." She sighed knowing she finally calmed her friend. "Bye for now."

Jushiro tilted his head as his companion hung the phone up. "I take it your friend was worried?"

"Worry is not the word for it," she sighed again. "I had to lie to her just to get her off the phone and I will have to continue lying to her when I speak with her again. And even have to lie to the police in what really happened."

He nodded. "It's unfortunate but necessary. For that, I am sorry." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Remembering how you reacted last night, your friend would not understand."

She shook her head. "No, she wouldn't. There was once, when we first met. I saw a Hollow... and she was with me. I asked her if she saw what I saw and she thought I was nuts. Never again did I ever bring it up."

"Come, lets put something else on that could ease your mind."

With a nod, she walked back to the sofa and switched the station to something that was less stressing. Jushiro never questioned what she was watching. He just wanted her to relax. Nearly the whole time the two watched, Sasha wasn't really paying attention to the show as she replayed the night's events over and over again. In time the gigai Jushiro used had arrived, which nearly freaked Sasha out once again all due to it being too strange seeing two of the same person. Even after Jushiro and the gigai became one, it still took a bit to get used to the idea. When she was comfortable enough, the two left to do the errands the two had to do.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Notes: Part of this chapter was from the former chapter 3 of the old version of the story._

 **Forbidden Love  
** **Chapter 4**

For a couple of hours, Jushiro and Sasha were out running errands which included getting some food. First they had to stop off at the dry cleaners so she could get her gown cleaned and then made their way to the police station to give them their statement of the evening. The two had to rehearse what they would say to be sure it matched with what the other eyewitness statements had said. At first Sasha didn't think she was going to be able to do it, but she did manage and they never suspected a thing.

Relieved when their statements were completed, Sasha was happy to get out of there and get as far away as possible from the station. It brought back too many unwanted memories of the time when she had finally turned her ex-husband in. Jushiro took note of her fearfulness, but remained quiet. She would tell him when she was ready. He already had an idea of what was bothering her.

It didn't take long for her mood to change when they arrived at the market and Jushiro was able to witness something he never really had to worry about before. Shopping for food. It was already strange enough as it was taking his first vehicle ride into town by a taxi cab but now being in a store that sold food. In the Soul Society, food was sold in markets throughout the Seireitei and even in some sections of the Rukongai. Never before had he been in a shop larger than even his own private mansion on the Ukitake estate.

Sasha was still getting used to Jushiro in the fake body but seeing his reaction was a little priceless and had her giggling, which caught his attention.

He looked at her as she tried stifling the noise. Raising a brow, he replied. "You find something amusing?"

"I'm sorry," she answered. "But seeing you look around is just a little funny. You've never been in a grocery store before?"

"Is that what this place is called?" He took another look, seeing he was in front of the produce. "The Seireitei only has markets and shops."

"Seireitei?" she asked.

He looked to her once more. "It's the name of the city all the Soul Reapers live in."

"Oh." Well that made sense. Getting a cart, Sasha made her way up and down the aisles, getting what she needed. Jushiro just followed along, doing his best to not draw attention to himself for being in a strange and interesting place.

When the two completed their shopping, Sasha made her way to the nearest cash line up to pay for the merchandise. With Jushiro carrying two bags and she carried two bags, the two hailed another cab and made their way back to her apartment.

"That was a very unusual outing," Jushiro commented as he helped her take the groceries to the kitchen.

"You're telling me," she replied. "It's not everyday I go out shopping with someone who isn't even a human."

Jushiro nodded as he took his bags and set them on the table and began removing the contents. Without so much as a word, each item he took from the bag was immediately put in their proper location, which surprised Sasha greatly. He didn't even bother asking where they went. It's like he knew.

"Ummm... what are you doing?" she asked after a few moments.

He stopped and looked at her. "Helping you put these away. It's the least I can do since I will need to stay with you until the situation is resolved."

Sasha sighed. "I suppose. Would you mind putting the rest away then. I need a moment or two alone." It was beginning to get too much for her again and she needed a moment to relax.

Jushiro gave a nod. "Of course. I don't expect for you to accept everything I've told you right away. If you were that type of person, I would probably become suspicious."

She gave another sigh and made her way into the living room, taking a seat on the couch while Jushiro put the rest of the groceries away. Other than when they were at the grocery store, nearly the entire time the two were out, she was quite tense and worried someone would realize she was keeping something from basically the entire world. But she knew the urgency in keeping what she knew a secret. Many would think she was crazy and place her in a mental hospital. She was not insane. Not with everything she had seen in her life.

As she leaned her head back, she could hear Jushiro shuffling around in the kitchen, putting everything away. How was she going to explain this to Beck? Beck, when she'd find out, would be all over Sasha like a wet blanket, asking many questions and probably some inappropriate ones too.

"Something on your mind?"

Slightly startled, Sasha lifted her head, realizing several minutes had gone by since she sat down and now Jushiro was sitting beside her with two mugs in his hands. Both were steaming hot.

"I must have zoned out," she replied, taking the mug out of his closet hand. "Didn't even realize you were done and then put some tea on."

"I hope you don't mind," he answered.

"No, I think tea would be good right about now," she sighed, taking a sip. "I was just thinking about my friend. The one you saw me with last night at the start."

"The one who called earlier?" he asked.

"Yeah, her," she nodded. "She's going to go ballistic when she learns you're here. And before you say anything, I know. I can't tell her the truth. But what will I tell her? I can't very well say you're here to protect me. That will raise a shit load of questions."

"It would indeed." He ignored her colorful word as he heard it many times throughout his men and even from Ichigo himself. A long time ago, words like that were rarely heard in the Soul Society but now, it has become part of many of the Soul Reapers vocabulary. Giving her a look, he took a sip of his tea and then set it down on the table in front of them. "I wouldn't worry about it too much until if and when it happens. Perhaps by then, you'll have something to tell her."

Getting up and taking her mug with her, she made her way to the kitchen to start on lunch. There was lot for her to think about.

/

For nearly a week, Jushiro stayed with Sasha, sleeping in the spare room. He was always up early, before her and she often woke to the aroma of breakfast, which was a nice change for her. The last time she had a man staying with her, he was her husband and he always demanded for her to cook. It was a nice welcome change.

As Sasha left her room to make her way to the kitchen where the nice scent smell was coming from, there was a knock at her door. Jushiro stopped what he was doing and looked to the door. He watched her make one step towards the door before a voice rang out from the other side.

"Sasha, I know you're in there," the voice echoed. "I'm not leaving until you open this door."

Sasha immediately sighed in frustration as she knew exactly who was there at her door. "Beck..." she breathed.

"You might as well answer it," he replied. "I doubt she will leave."

She snorted. "No, she won't. She can be very persistent when she wants to be." She lowered her head a moment, before looking up again. "Can't you give a girl a moment?" she called towards the door.

"Not when I've heard a rumor that you're housing a man in you apartment."

Sasha groaned. No doubt someone from the building saw the two leave and return together and gossip began. There was another tenant in the building who actually worked with Sasha and knew Beck very well. Knowing her friend could be impatient, she easily made her way towards the door and opened it. "Beck, what..."

"I need to see him," the friend rushed out, as she pushed past Sasha, making her way into the apartment, looking around. Her eyes scanned around when suddenly stopped. There in the kitchen was exactly what she was looking for. "Oh... my... god..." she breathed, eyes bugging out of her head.

Sasha groaned again. "Beck it's not what you think."

Beck swiftly turned to her friend. "Not what I think?! You have the hot sexy guy in your apartment and you never told me!"

Jushiro quirked a brow at the description the woman gave about him. She was the second woman to refer to him that way.

Sasha blushed a little. "Beck, must you be so loud!?"

"You like him or something?" she teased.

"Beck!" blurted the auburn haired woman. "If you must know, he saved me when the attack happened on the library. He's been staying here because..." What was she to say?

Jushiro then cleared his throat. He could see Sasha was placed into the corner she feared since the day after the attack."If I may interrupt," he began. "I work for the government and have been placed as a body guard for Sasha."

Beck blinked as she turned her attention back to the hot looking man. She missed the jaw drop from Sasha as she looked to her roommate. "You're what?! Why would Sasha need protecting?"

"Simple really," he continued, doing his best in playing his part as a regular human. "As you know the authorities are working on solving the suicide bomber. We have reason to believe the attacker is after Sasha for putting her husband in jail."

"You mean ex-husband," Beck corrected. "Why would that bastard do a thing like that!?"

Sasha felt her knees go weak at the bull faced lie. How could he do that with a straight face. Who was this guy? How could he think up something so calmly and just act like that is the truth?

Jushiro shook his head. That was a question he was wondering himself. Why would a Hollow be after Sasha? "I do not have an answer for you. All you need to know is Sasha is under protective custody and the local authorities are not involved in this procedure. They will have no answers for you on that part."

Beck turned back to her friend, seeing her shocked look on her face. "So I take it you didn't know about this little operation?"

For a few quick moments, Sasha gawked before realizing what she was doing and recomposed herself. Shaking her head, she looked to her friend. "No... I had no idea."

Beck turned back to Jushiro. "Wait a minute, aren't you the same one I caught Sasha dancing with earlier that night before all hell broke loose?"

Jushiro gently smiled. "Yes."

Walking straight into the kitchen, Beck stood right in front of the man. "You better keep my friend safe. She's been through hell and back again."

"Beck!" Sasha slightly whined as she face palmed.

With a light chuckle, Jushiro reached over, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I assure you. I will look after her. She and I were just about to have breakfast. Would you like to join us?"

Beck watched him a few moments and then stepped away. "No, unfortunately I can't. I'm meeting up with my boyfriend this morning for breakfast." Turning away, she made her way back towards her friend. "Oh and Sash, don't forget tomorrow there's a meeting on what we're to do about the damages at the library."

"I won't forget."

The two gave each other a quick hug before Sasha escorted her friend to the door.. When Beck left, Sasha was once more left alone with the man from another world. Shutting the door, she turned and made her way to the kitchen. "Why did you tell her that?"

"Well you weren't sure what to tell her and all week I've been wondering what would be best. I apologize for speaking up, but telling her partially the truth was more likely the best course," he explained. "Come, lets have breakfast."

She sighed in defeat. That was the second time, he stood up for her, at least in her mind's eye.

/

As night approached, both Jushiro and Sasha were sitting on the couch, watching the evening news. The report was about the library bombing, announcing forensics believed they were able to finally piece together how the explosion happened. They were able to determine the suicide bomber was very skilled and quite sophisticated to create such a bomb of that magnitude. The details that went into the report were quite accurate except for one thing. It wasn't a suicide bomber. It was a monster from another world.

"I still don't get how your people were able to come up with such a lie so easily that night. I'm sure you don't have every crime angled out on a whim."

Jushiro, no longer in his gigai, shook his head. Beside him, leaning against the couch was his sword. "No. But the portal between worlds can actually take us back in time before events happened, allowing us time to plant what is needed."

"Whoa! Wait a minute!" she blurted, swiftly turning to face him. "You can time travel!?"

"Not exactly," he answered. "The portal that takes between this world and mine has a time delay. We are forbidden to interfere in human affairs but when it involves Hollows we can. And the time delay is often usually just enough time for before the authorities begin their investigation." He didn't want to confuse her again, so he refrained on naming what the name of that portal was. She also didn't need to know the time delay was only up to a seven day window, which would take them back in time. However, it was all worked out from Squad 12 in how it fully worked.

With a huff, she turned back to the TV and leaned against the back of the couch. "So if your people are so great, you must be immortal then."

"No," he answered seriously. "We can die, but we're not as fragile as a human. We require the same things in life as humans, food, sleep and you know we can reproduce as well. We also can bleed, have illnesses and age, though not at a rate like humans and we can be killed."

"Wait… did you just say you don't age at a normal rate?"

Oh boy, here was another can of worms Jushiro was about to open. He took a deep breath. "Yes, I did just say that. I am older than you can possibly imagine."

"You don't look any older than I would say perhaps 35ish though your hair is white."

"Yes well that's because I suffer from an illness and a short time ago a remarkable young woman helped heal me some of that when she healed my wounds from a recent battle."

"Well then just how old are you then?" she asked. "I mean you can't be any older than what… 40 maybe?"

"As I said. I'm older than you could ever imagine," he answered, eyes closing. He was not looking forward to this conversation and now he was kicking himself for bringing it up.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You look young to me."

He leaned forward, taking her hand. He stared into her eyes. "I'm over 2000 human years."

Her eyes widened as her heart went into her throat. "T-t-tw- tw- two- th- th- tho- thou- thousand… years old…"

He could see this was going to take some time to get used to. "I'm sorry to have sprung that on you. I wasn't planning on telling you that."

She snapped her hand out of his and jumped to her feet. "Two thousand?! Are you nuts?! That is just insane!" she rushed out as she began to pace the floor. "Never in my life had I thought this could ever be possible."

Jushiro stood, watching her every move. He grasped his sword, sliding it back into his sash. "Sasha, please. I never meant to over load you again. But you did ask." It had been a whole week since the two were forced together and in that time they were slowly getting to know one another. Perhaps he thought she could handle more of the truth since she seemed to be more comfortable around him. Guess he was wrong.

Her pacing stopped abruptly, unsure what to feel anymore. Should she feel angry or just upset? As she stared at him, something in the distance was drawing closer to her apartment balcony. She could see it, but for the second didn't think anything of it. Her mind was too distracted to really pay attention. But as it drew nearer, she was beginning to see it take shape. Her eyes widened, as it got closer, giving her time to make out it was a Hollow heading towards her, fast.

Jushiro noticed her frozen look and he slightly turned only to snap back to her. "Sasha! Get down!"

He dove towards her, hand grabbing her arm, pulling her down with him just as her balcony window shattered. The force of the crash, caused the wall on either side of the window to implode.

A dignify scream came from her mouth just as the wall exploded in a loud crash. She felt her back land hard on the floor while Jushiro covered her body with his own, protecting her. He tucked his entire body around her. Her scream was muffled into his shoulder as he kept her well hidden by his body, face included as the shattering continued. The force of the blast pushed the two across the floor, which added more to her scream.

He managed to wrap his arms around her back as the two were blown from the force of the explosion, which was a good thing as large pieces of exterior wall went flying into walls. They managed to find themselves near the hall to the bedrooms. From debris of the exterior walls, caused dust to swirl around the room.

"Where are you bitch!" growled the same Hollow.

Jushiro managed to look up slightly in time to see, through the flying debris dust, the same Hollow as before. He had to get Sasha out of there. He never anticipated the beast to return let alone to find her apartment. He looked to her frightened form and could see she was about to release a scream again. If she did so, that would lose his only opportunity for the advantaged to get out of there. It was a good thing when she began to freak over his age, she was pacing close to her hallway to the bedrooms. Now the two were actually in that very hallway.

In a blink of an eye, one arm pulled away from her back to clamp over her mouth. He then lowered his mouth to her ear. "Don't scream," he whispered. "I know this quite frightening for you, but we have to get out of here. I will protect you, that is a promise." He could feel her entire body tremble as her heart beat wildly. His own heart was hammering faster than normal.

Tears ran down her face, onto his warm fingers. He didn't have to know she was scared, he could see it in her eyes and feel it as her body shook.

"You need to trust me," he added.

Pulling himself slightly away from her body, he carefully got to his knees, wincing in pain. When the two crashed into the hallway, he used his body as a shield to protect her from the blow when they hit the wall.

"Where are you bitch!?" the Hollow called out again. "I can smell your fear."

Jushiro swiftly glanced around to see they were closest to the spare room. Ignoring the pain in his back, he jumped to his feet. Grabbing her hands, he lifted her to her feet and pulled her towards the door to the spare room. She didn't even have time to blink or squeak before he yanked her into the room just as the dust settled enough for the Hollow to see perfectly.

He was scanning the room and just spot Sasha's body disappeared into the spare room. "You can't hide from me!"

Jushiro went straight to the window, pulling out his sword, to shatter the window, which he knew could be heard from the other room. He only had mere seconds before the Hollow would be on his tail. He looked at Sasha before pulling her tight against his body and suddenly flash stepped out of the room through the window.

She gave a sudden squeal as she watched, as the city became a blur, as he kept moving faster than humanly possible. "Wha….what's going on?" she asked, frightened. By his speed was he actually faster than any fictional super hero?

"It's a speed we can do called Flash step and I'm getting you as far a way from there as possible."

"You're not getting away from me!"

Suddenly Jushiro was halted, as something wrapped around is leg, forcing him back. From the abrupt jolt, he lost his hold on Sasha and she began to fall towards the ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed.

"Sasha!" he shouted just as he felt his leg be pulled back more.

Wrapped around his leg was a tentacle, preventing him from being able to dive forward and catch the woman. He watched in horror as she fell towards the ground while he was to remain stationary, hovering in the air. However, something was quick to catch his attention as her shrill rang out.

Her screams were cut short suddenly when someone came from out of nowhere, catching her before she could crash in to the roof of a building, taking her life.

"I got you!" a male voice said with a small smirk. Worry was etched into his eyes as his brows were furrowed indicating he knew the situation was serious.

Sasha looked up just in time to see a man wearing a hat and had facial hair. His eyes regarded her a moment before he looked up to Jushiro. "Looks like you could use some help, my friend," he replied.

"Shunsui!" Jushiro blinked. He then lost his balance as the tentacle around his ankle tightened. He collapsed to his knees as if he was on the ground, with a grunt.

"Jushiro!" Shunsui called out.

"Roar! Zabimaru!"

Sasha was in too much shock for the moment to speak but at the sound of hearing another male voice yell out, she was quick to turn her head just as an extending bladed weapon came down, slicing the tentacle right in two, freeing Jushiro. A shrill roar echoed throughout the night. Jushiro got to his feet and flash step to stand beside his friend.

"Lieutenant! That thing knows Sasha!" Jushiro yelled as the Hollow turned his attention on the other Soul Reapers.

Sasha looked up in time to see another man with red hair, wearing the same outfit as Jushiro but this time no haori face off the Hollow. The Hollow gave a haunting cry.

"I will have you back Sasha!" It then disappeared once again like before at the library.

"It's a good thing Ichigo sensed the Hollow in this area," Renji replied bringing his Zanpakuto to lean against the back of his shoulder.

"This…this is unreal…" Sasha breathed.

Jushiro looked to her. "Sasha, you're not…"

He never got to finish his sentence as her head tipped back and both arms went limp. Like the first Hollow attack, she lost consciousness.

"She fainted!" Renji pointed out the obvious.

"Can you blame her?" asked Shunsui as he looked at her with concern and noted how beautiful she looked. "She just nearly fell to her death. It's a good thing I came along to see how you were fairing. Kisuke Urahara said you were staying with the woman."

"Yes," Jushiro nodded. He looked back towards her apartment building. In the distance, he could see the destruction. Tehre was no way she could return back to her home. "Right now lets get back to the Soul Society. With happened just now, she will be better protected there."

"You sure that's wise? She's a human," inquired Shunsui.

"She's the very target we were searching for. That Hollow was formally her ex-husband and he has some sort of evil plan for her. He was the attacker at the library a week ago and of course just now."

"Ex-husband?!" Shunsui blinked, looking down in the face of the woman in his arms.

"Twice in one week, not a good sign," Renji replied. "Rukia and I were with Ichigo in the vicinity of the library when the incident happened. Didn't realize it was you until Rukia told me you were at that human function."

Jushiro sighed. "Which is why I want to bring her back with us. You both know since Ichigo first arrived in the Soul Society with his friends, Head Captain Yamamoto made it possible for the humans to make it through safely. Renji open the doorway."

Sighing, Renji did as asked and opened the doorway to the Soul Society. Three hell butterflies appeared. Seeing as Jushiro was in charge of the mission, Shunsui carefully handed the girl over to his friend and was the first to step through. Renji was next to step through, leaving Jushiro the last to go through.

Jushiro cradled the woman close to his chest as he carefully nudged her head to lean against his shoulder. Once she was secured in his arms, he carried her through the door, having it seal up behind him and disappear from view of being seen by anyone of high spirit energy.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Notes: I know Jushiro's home isn't that big at least that we've ever seen. But I can't see his private estate being that small when he supports 7 siblings. So I've decided to make his home bigger. And what we see in the show is his private retreat on his estate_

 **Forbidden Love**  
 **Chapter 4**

With a moan, Sasha began to come around, only this time something warm and bright was nearly shining on her face. However, what caught her attention most was the heat drawing her out of the slumber. But how was that possible? Her bedroom window did not face the sunrise and she always kept her curtains and blinds closed when she slept. What was going on? Feeling herself shift, an immediate reaction came out of her, causing another moan. The bed she was in, was not her own. Where the hell was she? The last thing she remembered was…her mind thought a moment before remembering she nearly fell to her death until a strange man caught her before she could hit the roof of a building!

Her eyes flew open suddenly. A Hollow attacked her at her apartment, destroying the exterior wall, which then in turn trashed her apartment. As her eyes came into focus, the vision before was something she never seen before. She was looking upon a strange ceiling structured in what appeared to be a traditional style Japanese design. She hadn't seen that in many years.

"Oh good," a voice called softly. "You're wake. You had me worried for a bit there."

Turning to her side she could see Jushiro sitting in a chair beside her but there was someone else as well, a woman. She wore the same robes as Jushiro, haori included but there was something different about her. Her hair was pulled to the front of her, braided down her front, completely framing her hair around her face. There was one feature on her that gave Sasha a sense of comfort; her gentle face.

"Where am I?" Sasha asked. With Jushiro there, she knew there was no need to panic.

"Safe here in the Soul Society," the female stranger answered. "Captain Ukitake had you brought here to his private estate after you both were attacked by a Hollow."

Sasha tried to sit up, but Jushiro was quick to reach over and helped her to sit up. "Easy now. Falling nearly to your death can be pretty terrifying."

She gave a short nod. "Yes… who… who saved me?" she looked to Jushiro.

The kind Captain gave a gentle smile, gesturing his hand towards another part of the room. Her eyes followed his hands to the very man who saved her and beside him the other man who helped Jushiro.

"He did," Jushiro answered. "He's my long time friend I told you about and his name is Shunsui, Captain of Squad 8. And beside him is Lieutenant Renji Abarai of Squad 6."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sasha," Shunsui replied. "Though, too bad it wasn't under better circumstances."

Renji nodded, quietly regarding her. He had seen his fair share of humans since meeting Ichigo and his friends. He knew humans could get unpredictable.

"This is just nuts." She lifted her leg from under the sheets, resting her hand on the leg before lowering her head to her arm.

Renji looked to Captain Ukitake. "Captain," he finally said. "I don't mean to be rude or abrupt but why would a Hollow target one person directly on a personal level?"

Not sure how to respond to that, Jushiro looked to Sasha as she lifted her head. "Because," she answered for him. "The Hollow in question is formally my husband who I guess died while in prison, according to his words, and has returned as a monster to hunt me down."

"That doesn't make much sense. Why would someone who died in prison, want you?" asked Renji.

Sasha gawked at him for a moment, still finding it hard to believe the people around her were only spirits where normal humans can't see except for those with high spirit energy. How did he understand the human world?

Seeing her confusion, Jushiro rested his hand against her back in a comforting gesture. "Renji is one of our Soul Reapers who often goes to the World of the Living. He and one of my own subordinates, Rukia."

"I… see…" She took a deep breath before regarding the younger man. She could easily tell he was younger than even Shunsui just by his looks and attitude. "Two years ago, I was the one who put my ex-husband in jail in the first place after having a horrifying marriage, which I really don't want to get into. And I've heard prison is not always the ideal place for criminals who are abusers."

"Fair enough," Renji shrugged, understanding the meaning of her words. He knew he could be a little dense at times, but abuse was abuse no matter how it was depicted. He had seen enough of abuse during his childhood days in the Rukon District. "I guess as long as you know and understand the situation, guess that's what is important. Oh that reminds me. After Captain Ukitake brought you here, I went back to see about the damages and came upon someone who is very frantic about you. Beck… I think is her name."

"Rebecca!" Sasha jerked, nearly falling off the bed if Jushiro hadn't grasped her shoulders, supporting her to the mattress.

Normally she would have been resting on a futon, but according to what Rukia told her Captain, many humans now slept on a bed frame. Wanting to keep Sasha as comfortable as possible, Jushiro had a regular bed with a frame brought into his home for her to rest in.

Renji was fast in holding up his hands. "Calm down. She's ok. My friend Ichigo, who is a human like you, spoke with her last night. I was with him at the time. And he said to her you were placed in Public Security Intelligence Agency and would be away for awhile until the situation has been resolved. She did mention something about being under protection. What is that?"

Shunsui chuckled a little. "That's a mouth full."

"I told her," Jushiro replied. "I was with a special group of people who were investigating the incident at the library and the local authorities were not involved in it."

Sasha wanted to jump to her feet but feeling Jushiro's hands secure on her shoulders, she knew it was futile, not after what she witnessed last night with his flash stepping. She leaned back into his hands, a little relieved. Beck knew she was ok, since her apartment was destroyed.

"Take slow easy breaths," Captain Unohana instructed. She had remained quiet until now. "Being here will help to protect you better."

Sasha did as asked and soon her body began to relax. She looked to the good Captain. "Who are you?"

"My name is Captain Retsu Unohana of Squad 4. Squad 4 is basically what you humans call the medical corps," she replied. "I best should be going. I will stop by later and see how you're doing. Captain Ukitake, be sure she does her best to remain calm. I noticed her blood pressure seems to be quite high."

"I will do my best. She is still adjusting to everything that's been told."

"I guess that can be quite overwhelming learning there are people who exist in another world," Retsu replied. She picked up the bag she brought with her and was the first to leave the room, heading back to Squad 4.

Sasha looked to Renji, remembering his question. "To answer your question from earlier, Public Security Intelligence Agency is an espionage group in the Japanese law enforcement that work on special tasks. In some cases people become a high profile case for protection. To ensure their safety, one goes under this protection and hides away so it's hard to find them. Some are given new identities and moved to another place to live. And once you're under this protection, no one is allowed to ask where you are."

"So it's safe to say your friend won't question?" asked Jushiro.

Sasha shook her head. "No. Which probably is the reason your friend, this Ichigo guy said that to her. You say he's a human Soul Reaper, then he would know the severity of my protection."

"That he does," Renji replied. "Well I best be off and see him, to appraise him of the situation."

"Thank you Renji for giving us that report. Have you seen Rukia?" Jushiro asked.

"I believe she said the Head Captain has asked her to investigate the destruction at the apartment to be sure there's nothing there to link the authorities to the Hollow."

Jushiro nodded. He stopped resting his hand against her shoulders and stood. "Sasha, I'll just be out in the other room. Just rest for now."

"How can I rest when I'm in this Soul Society?" she asked.

"Sasha, Jushiro's right. Right now allow yourself time to rest and then later see what our world is like. Both Jushiro and I can tell you have many more questions and where you're here, you need to know all you can about our world. In many ways it's not much different than your own," Shunsui offered. "I have to go Jushiro. Nanao is probably looking for me."

"She does care about you very much, but gets upset with you," Jushiro mused.

"See you later, Jushiro." Shunsui waved to his friend, leaving the room.

Jushiro looked back to Sasha to see she leaned back in the bed and was now lying on her back once again. Wanting to let her have some peace, he stepped through the opened door to the room, before sliding it shut, leaving her alone.

* * *

After taking some rest as requested by Retsu and even Shunsui and Jushiro, though didn't want to, she got up. Her mind was a bit too wired to rest anymore. Sasha was the type to not ignore the recommendations of the doctor and Retsu did say she was basically a doctor. She pulled herself off the bed and slowly made her way around the room, heading to the door she saw Jushiro leave out of. As she opened the door, she found herself in an opened room with four small tables each side had a cushion. She deduced it was for afternoon tea as a group. Looking up, she could see the walls separating the room was opened giving the look the next room was a living room.

Noticing two large windows, with a sofa in between, it was plainly obvious it was daylight. But when she last was awake, on Earth, it was midnight. She must have really been out of it if her fainting spell lasted her the entire night. No wonder she had such a concerned group of people she didn't know surrounding her. They were worried since she never woke from her fainting spell. And now it made sense in why Renji said 'last night'.

She made her way over to the large windows, wanting to see the view it bestowed to the room. To her amazement, she could pond like river between the house and a beautiful looking garden.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"It is, isn't it?" Jushiro came up to stand beside Sasha.

He had entered the room on the intention to see how Sasha was doing. To his surprise, he found her in his living room looking out the big windows of what his property looked like. Seeing her looking at the beauty of his garden, made him smile.

Startled, she spun around, facing him. Evidence he frightened her was written all over her face. He kept his eyes trained on the view outside, not wanting her to feel intimated by the idea he scared her since he was light on his feet. "I apologize for startling you," he said.

"Well… I…" She turned back to the view. "Guess with everything that happened last night, I'm just a bit jumpy. Probably doesn't help that I'm still adjusting over the attack at the library."

"That's quite understandable. I take it then, you're not normally a jumpy person?"

"With being married, I had to force myself to not be so jumpy. Although I did develop a fear of sounds that often reminded me of him. It's why I took to living in an apartment, high up. This way I didn't have to deal with the everyday sounds of being on the ground floor."

"I take it then you lived in a house before?"

"Yes, his. So I got out of there fast when I left him." The topic was upsetting her and she had a feeling he could sense it. Wanting to get off the topic, she moved to something else. "This is really beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before."

Understanding she wanted to change topics, he gave a smile. "It's not as big as some of the nobles who live here in the Seireitei, but I'm not a high nobleman and to me this perfect."

She turned back to him once again. "Noblemen? I'm not sure I understand."

His brown eyes shifted from the garden to regard her. "Here in the Soul Society there are four levels of nobility. I am of the low level. There was someone above me in which my family were in service of them. But they were banished from the Seireitei and since my family served no one."

She turned back to the view once more. "And what is the second class then?" She couldn't get over how beautiful his land looked.

"My best friend Shunsui is of the next class up of nobility. The second class, which have a variety of nobles, would include those of the four great noble houses of the Soul Society. Only two serve as part of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and live in the Seireitei. The highest level of nobility can be quite complicated to really speak about."

"Kinda reminds me of a business my Grandparents used to work for. You had one big boss but then under him he had like three or four different stages of managers before having the regular employees with different levels of seniority over others who have been there longer."

"Something like that. Here in the Seireitei though there is the Kuchiki clan and Shihoin Clan. They represent two clans of the second class of nobles."

"And the highest level?" she asked.

"They are nobles who live outside the Seireitei. In your world, you'd probably classify them as royals."

"So higher the nobility the classier the home," she deduced. "You have a beautiful yard. Being in the city, I don't often get to see such beauty."

"I certainly can imagine. I've seen what Karakura town looks like in the daylight and I've yet to see places as wonderful as this other than in parks," he agreed. "Come, I just had my servants make breakfast."

She turned away from the wonderful sight, just as Jushiro began to make his way out of the room. Not wanting to lose her way, she followed him. The two reached the 'tea room'. The two exited the house to an exterior portion where they walked over a bridge, extending over the river. After getting on the other side, there was a small little house, which housed the kitchen and dining area.

To her surprise, upon walking into the dining area, she saw four Japanese traditional tables. One had breakfast for two, which meant she was going to have to sit on her knees.

"I apologize if you're not used to this sort of set up," he responded as he took a seat on one side of the table.

She went over to the other and took a seat. "Why apologize. This is your home. I'm your guest. I was taught to always respect tradtions, no matter if you're used to a different way or not. Besides when I lived with my grandparents, they lived in the traditional Japanese way. After I got married, my ex and I spent some time abroad and adapted their life style. So I can easily switch from one to the other."

He silently nodded before picking up his chopsticks and began eating his breakfast. Feeling hungry herself, she mimicked what he was doing and too began eating.

While they ate, a nagging question kept gnawing in her mind, but she kept quiet wanting to eat first. When her meal was gone, she lowered her chopsticks and looked at Jushiro. Giving a serious look, she decided to finally end the silence. "So what's going to happen now? I mean you explained you need to protect me and brought me here to keep me safe, but what about my things? I can't simply wear this all the time." She gestured to her sweatshirt and pants.

With a soft smile, he stood. "Follow me." He held out his hand for her to help her up.

Taking his proffered hand, he lifted her up but did not release her hand. She was a bit shocked when he led her out of the room. They walked back the way they came, going back into the main part of the house. Leading her back to the living room, he stopped at a spiraling staircase leading upwards. Finally he released her hand, taking the lead up the stairs while she silently followed. At the top there was a small hallway with sliding doors at either end. Not stopping, until he reached one of the doors, he slid it open and stepped out of the way for her to enter.

Sasha gasped at what was in the room. With the same type of furniture in the room as the one that was in the one she woke up in. Only difference was the bed was a bit different and so was the bedding. She went to turn to him to ask him how he managed to bring her things. She went to open her mouth to speak when he cut her off.

"While you were unconscious, my subordinate, Rukia took the liberty of gathering some of your things that weren't destroyed," he replied with a smile.

"How did you manage?" she asked suddenly, finding her voice.

"My guess would be, Rukia assumed you would be better off protected here. And since she knows a lot about humans, thought it wise to bring you some things that would be useful for you."

She turned back to the clothes on the bed. "So I might not have everything?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm afraid. There was one thing Rukia found in the wreckage of the destroyed living room and she was surprised to have found it not damaged and was able to bring it here as well."

He stepped away from her, going over to the bed where he then brought out a rectangular object with a plug. "Rukia says many humans have one."

She gasped. "My laptop!"

"So that's what this is," he mused. "I had wondered what it was. I take it this is important?"

"It has everything of mine. My pictures, hobbies and others." She stepped over, taking the machine from his hands to inspect it. "I should thank Rukia then."

"However, I should warn you, it will not work here. We're quite advanced in technology, some more than what the World of the Living has, however our power supply is powered by the Reishi from all around us."

"Oh…" Sasha's head lowered, looking at the machine in her hands. "So then when the battery is depleted, that's it."

"Perhaps not." This was a long shot, but it didn't hurt to try. Worse that could happen was it didn't work. "I have an idea."

She looked up. "What sort of idea?"

"One of the Squad Captains is classified as our technical support. His entire Squad is devoted to the art of science and technology. He may have a solution to the problem."

"How could that work? You just said your power supply is run on Reishi, which surrounds us all."

"Yes, I did say that. Captain Kurotsuchi of Squad 12 may seem a bit crazy, but he has some good ideas, ideas that have helped us a lot over the years. He might have the ability to somehow attach your computer to absorb the Reishi so you may use it here. But that is only a theory and one we surely could check out."

"Captain of Squad 12?" Sasha blinked. She then remembered a few nights ago when they talked, he told her about how there were 13 Captains of the 13 Court Guard Squad but that three of them turned traitor, leaving only ten Captains left for all 13 Squads.

Seeing the intensity of his stare, she felt herself blushing. Slightly tilting her head away, not wanting him to see her blush. "Thank you," she answered shyly. "For someone who is over 2000 years old, you sure don't look it. You look just a few years or so..." her blushed deepened a bit more. "Older than me." Her heart began to hammer in her chest by the man before her. He was so handsome and knowing he had a lean body under those robes he wore, she suspected he had to be quite sexy if he wasn't wearing so many layers. His robes actually hid his body, preventing her from seeing how sexy his body stood out.

Jushiro nodded, noting her sudden shyness. Not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable in his presence, he felt the need to change the subject. "For the duration of your stay, you may stay here. My room is just across the hall."

Sasha looked at her things once again before looking into the face of the man who saved her from her hollowified ex-husband. "Jushiro, you've opened yourself up to me, telling me about your life here in the Soul Society and yet you've hardly heard anything about me. I feel as though I'm using your kindness. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Keeping you alive is all I need," he answered honestly.

"That goes without saying. All you know about me so far is my horrible marriage. You know nothing of me of life with my grandparents."

"I don't wish to pry. I told you about it, believing it is essential because I'm protecting you and the more you understand about my job, the safer I can keep you. Though I am curious on one thing. Are you a swimmer?"

"A swimmer?" she blinked. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just recently I had a pool installed and I was just wondering…"

Sasha's eyes widened in surprise. "You have a pool?!" she squeaked, cutting him off. "I love pools!"

Jushiro smiled. "That is good to know. Perhaps later I will show it to you." He stepped closer to her, reaching his hand out to her face.

She lightly gasped as his fingers touched her skin. She stood still as he touched her. "Sorry, there was something in your hair and I was just getting it off."

Her breath nearly hitched in her throat, trying not to allow him to see how his fingers against her cheek was really making her knees feel wobbly. His fingers were so gentle. "I love to swim," she breathed out suddenly. "Although, I'm not a very good swimmer, never had anyone to give me proper lessons."

That gave Jushiro an idea. He had no idea how long Sasha was going to be staying in the Soul Society, but he knew he was going to have to try and make her stay as pleasant as possible. Perhaps he could help teach her to swim better. He had been around 2000 years and was an excellent swimmer even though he did suffer with his illness for a very long time.

"Perhaps I can help you with that," he offered. He slowly removed his fingers from her cheek and hair, allowing her to breath normally again. "Why don't you work on placing your things in the drawers available to you? I do have to see to my Squad and see how things are going. And later I can show you around the Seireitei." He then smiled at her. "You showed me your world and the wonderful places people shop, now it's time for me to do the same for you in mine."

"That's like the tenth time I've heard that name said. What is that?" she asked, confused at the name.

"In the center of the Soul Society is the Seireitei, a big circular city surrounding what is known as the Rukongai District, which is where the souls of the humans we send here are placed. If they have spirit energy, they could become Soul Reapers and help protect the Soul Society and protect humans too."

"So the Seireitei is your city then?" she inquired.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. On foot, it would take 10 days to travel from one gate to another. But with our ability to flash step, it takes us minutes."

"Flash step, that's what you did last night to try and get away from him?"

He nodded. "Yes. Each person has different speeds. Shunsui and I are one of the fastest, though we aren't the top fastest."

Stepping away from him, Sasha glanced at her remaining belongings. Walking to the bed, she began to sort through, putting them away. Silently, he gave her a nod and exited the room, leaving her to her own work while he left for his Squad barracks to brief everyone and to get the latest updates of what was going on. He knew she needed time to sort things through and allow her time to absorb what happened.


	6. Chapter 6

**Forbidden Love  
Chapter 5**

There wasn't much else to do after she organized her clothing, getting them straightened out and placed where they could be placed. She did notice not all her clothes were there, but she couldn't really complain too much. At least Rukia did her best.

With Jushiro not home, it was left to Sasha to get to know her surroundings better. As she gave herself the fifty-cent tour, she took note the living room was quite spectacular in her opinion. With one wall covered in books with a table and chairs for reading, the opposite side viewed the garden with 2 sofas facing each window with a third in between. Two low tables in between. Near the center of the room was the spiral staircase. Across from the sitting area, there was another with two chairs facing a fireplace. The opposite side of the room was what appeared to her as the grand entry to the house.

She couldn't help but notice Jushiro's home was a size for seven occupants. That would explain why there were four dining tables and tea settings. As she continued her tour, it was very noticeable the property wasn't a very large one, not like the ones she could see in the distance from over the walls that surrounded his yard. But it was larger than those in Karakura Town and even her own... when she lived in a house with her ex-husband.

Her eyes sparkled with joy when she saw his pool, which had a private pathway leading away from the house. There was a river that flowed around the house and went between the main area of the house to the kitchen. It then branched off around a bend. In the distance, she could see another building structure. She was more surprised he had one when from as far as she could tell he lived alone. But then again hearing about Rukia and Renji, perhaps he did it to help pass the time away or something. She would have to ask him about it later.

Following the river to little past the edge of the house, she noticed it spilled into a basin resembling a pond, with a small building in the middle of it attached to a bridge. The bridge attached to the house lead to a gate much like the main gate leading to the main house. and the main area of the land, allowed access back and forth.

Finally her tour ended with marveling at the garden, which had two sections. The first section had a couple benches with an outdoor terrace table surrounding two fountains. The second section had a fountain and was more isolated with Sakura trees. Jushiro's home was completely amazing.

Thinking of Jushiro, her mind drifted to how kind and caring he was to her. He was very respectful and had a very unique gentleman quality. She wondered if there were other men in the Soul Society who was like that. Though he did not look the age, she could tell through his warm brown eyes, he had seen much. Which meant he probably knew the ins and outs to a woman's heart. Just that thought alone had a shiver go up her spine. He probably could teach her a thing or two about love.

Blinking, she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Where did that thought come from? "Come on Sasha," she muttered to herself. "Snap out of it. He might be handsome, but he'd never see me in that sort of way. He's just protecting me and that's that. Once this crisis is over, I'll go home and never see him again."

"Oh, there you are," said Jushiro as he came around the corner, seeing her marveling his garden.

She jumped, startled by his sudden presence. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry," he replied, concerned. "It wasn't my intention to startle you."

"That's alright," she answered, fully regarding him. "After last night, it's probably natural for me to be a bit jumpy."

"That it can be," he agreed. "Finding everything you need, ok?"

"Yes, thank you. Your home is very beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before. It's so peaceful here, it's like living in a garden or something."

He took a glance around the property. "I've never thought of it like that before." He lightly laughed, but his eyes revealed a hint of sadness. "I suppose you're right. This does remind me of a garden. I'm surprised I've never noticed it before." His gaze turned back to her. "As much as staying here admiring the view from a different prospective is interesting enough, I actually came to tell you, you will have to be bare without me just a little bit longer. There has been called an emergency Captain's meeting about your situation."

"You just got back," she said, slightly disappointed she was going to have to go longer without anyone to talk to.

"I apologize," he answered. "If you need anything, ask any of the servants and they'll get it for you."

"They have been very kind," she replied. "You have wonderful people. I'm not used to being catered to though."

"Well you can just inform them you'd like to do it yourself," he said. "I will be back as soon as I can." He gave her a gentle smile before turning away and heading back to the main gates of his property. Sasha watched him leave until he disappeared behind the wall. She noticed his hair completely covered the symbol on his haori, showing which squad Captain he was. "So handsome..." she muttered when he was long gone.

Realizing what she was saying. She slapped her forehead and decided to retreat back inside, which there wasn't much she could do. She didn't want to turn on her laptop, knowing it could be the last time she could use it. She hoped this Captain Kurotsuchi would be able to help her with her computer problems.

* * *

Over in Squad 1 barracks, the remaining ten Captains were gathering for the meeting dealing with Sasha's arrival and what would be placed for protection of her. Normally humans weren't brought to the Soul Society for protection, but with this woman, rules had to bend. Someone from Heuco Mundo was hunting down humans with high reiatsu and the woman Jushiro was protecting seemed to have one of the highest next to Ichigo.

"What is the meaning of this ridiculous summons?" Mayuri snapped. "We're just getting the Seireitei under control once again since Captain Aizen betrayed us."

Yamamoto looked at the remaining nine Captains. "To answer the question Captain Kurotsuchi. A human has been brought here under our protect from the latest threat dealing with Heuco Mundo."

"Heuco Mundo?!" Mayuri blinked. "That still baffles me in who would be the one behind all of this. I already took out all the wonders Heuco Mundo had to offer."

"That is a mystery," Yamamoto answered. "But for the time being she will be staying here until the threat is over."

"That could take years," replied Toshiro who stood beside Mayuri. "Forgive me Head Captain but do you think that is wise? I know without Ichigo Kurasaki's help, Aizen wouldn't have been defeated, but should that give the right to allow a human to remain here in the Soul Society? They aren't even spirits."

"Your concern is well noted," Yamamoto stated. "However, last night Lieutenant Abarai and Captain Kyoraku assisted Captain Ukitake with the human."

"And fighting that guy wasn't exactly a walk in the park," Shunsui offered. "Who was it again Jushiro?"

"Her ex-husband who she legally divorced last year," Jushiro answered. "He was sent to prison for spousal abuse and endangering lives."

"Seriously!? We are protecting a human from her ex-husband," Mayuri exclaimed. "This is nothing more than a marital spat and shouldn't be addressed as if…"

"You don't understand," Jushiro interrupted. "Her ex-husband was turned into a very powerful Hollow. And he even stated he was there to capture for the new Master of Heuco Mundo."

"How would a man who was arrested become a Hollow?" asked Toshiro. "Unless he was killed."

"I have been looking into that," Shunsui replied looking at Toshiro who was beside him. "Lieutenant Renji and Miss Kuchiki are working on it as we speak in the world of the Living and so far what they have come up with is not exactly a typical case. The ex-husband was killed while in prison, which is, apparently quite a common occurrence."

"For what purpose would someone kill a fellow inmate?" asked Sajin.

"Lots of reasons," Byakuya answered for the first time. "Rukia was telling me earlier in how humans will kill other humans sometimes for just amusement and love to see them suffer. Whatever the reasons were behind this former human in being arrested, his inmates must not have liked it."

"That does make a lot of sense," replied Kenpachi. "Fighting is quite a popular action in the World of the Living."

"Head Captain," said Toshiro, looking to the old man. "Was this human brought here for her protection because of the Hollow?"

"That and because she was the very person who was eluding our tracking," the old man answered.

"Impossible! How would a mere human female possess such a strong power?" protested Mayuri shaking his head.

Jushiro looked at the crazy Captain. "You have already seen the power in Orihime Inoue. That there shows you proof they can be strong as well."

"Captain Ukitake?" Toshiro turned his large cerulean eyes to the one man who nearly shared the same letters in the name as he. "What is the name of this human?"

"Sasha Rufleton," he answered. "And telling her about the Soul Society has been quite a lot for her deal with, but she is beginning to manage it. She's been able to see spirits and Hollows nearly her entire life. Even seen one of our men from time to time, but kept silent about it."

"Just like Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya had his eyes closed, listening to everyone. He often didn't speak during meetings, but there were times where he would put his two cents worth in. "He too has been able to see spirits since he was a young child and even met the Grandfisher, which his father killed just before the event with Aizen began."

"Since Sasha will be with us for who knows how long," Yamamoto announced. "We will meet here again tomorrow so she can meet all of us. There is no sense in keeping things from her since she is staying here."

"Yes, Head Captain. She, I'm sure, is a bit curious in meeting you all," Jushiro nodded. He turned to Mayuri. "And perhaps you could do something for her."

"Me?" blinked Mayuri, staring at the gentle Captain. "What could I do that she possibly wants? Studying humans are often boring."

Jushiro frown at his choice of words. "No. She has what is called a computer. Perhaps you could rig something up so it could feed off the reiatsu like the rest of our technology does. She doesn't have much left after her home was destroyed."

"That is a good idea," agreed the Head Captain. "Captain Kurotsuchi, you will work with Captain Ukitake in helping her to feel more comfortable here. Captain Unohana, I'll have her sent over to Squad 4 so you could put her blood in the database in case of medical problems in the future. We have no idea how long she will be with us. And she is here for protection from Hueco Mundo. The rest of the humans have their bodyguards."

"Head Captain," Jushiro stepped forward. "I am wondering, will she be placed in normal bodyguard surveillance?"

"No," he said. "She'll remain in your care until the threat is over. However long that will be."

"I understand," Jushiro replied with a nod. "It's best to try and make her stay here as comfortable as possible."

"We are going to have do something, however, with her disappearance in the World of the Living," Yamamoto continued.

"That has already been covered," Shunsui interrupted. "Young Ichigo Kurosaki has dealt with that by saying she's in protective custody, which is mostly the truth."

Yamamoto nodded. "Good enough. I have taken up enough of your time."

"So this human is staying indefinitely?" Soifon asked, frowning. She didn't like the idea of a human staying in the Soul Society."

"Until the threat is over," the old man replied. "Meeting adjourned."

Soifon gawked, displeased by this. She was the Captain of the punishment force and the Head Captain wasn't giving her time to protest nor did he tell her this human was staying here already until now. She glared at the white haired Captain as the Captains began to disburse.

As Jushiro began to leave, he could feel Soifon's eyes on his back, but he ignored her. She was one Soul Reaper one didn't want to piss off.

"Hey Jushiro!"

Hearing his name called, he turned to see Shunsui stepping to him. "What is it?" he asked.

"How is your friend doing?" Shunsui inquired.

"She seems to be doing alright," Jushiro answered. "While I was at the barracks today, she gave herself her own tour of my estate. She finds it rather remarkable."

Shunsui tipped his hat. "That's good to know she's getting used to her surroundings. Well I guess I should be going and let you get back to that beautiful young woman."

Jushiro rolled his eyes. "You're impossible." The comment, however, hit a few heart strings, but he forced it down. Now wasn't the time.

Shunsui smirked. "But of course. Have a good night Jushiro."

"Good night Shunsui."

Shunsui continued to walk out, leaving Jushiro for a few moments to his own thoughts until he was the last one left. Jushiro soon left to do some thinking in how he was going to proceed with this. Sasha was going to be staying with him for some time and he had to make her comfortable. He was going to need Rukia's help on this.

* * *

It being quite late, sometime after 11, Sasha sat on the bridge leading to the house, dangling her feet over the edge, knowing full well there was water directly below her. She was now dressed in a long sleeping gown with a housecoat over top. With her being in a new place, she was having a hard time getting to sleep. The realization had hit her some time ago on the fact she wasn't going to see her friends for while and it was bothering her. Also where the owner of the house wasn't around, she was feeling seriously out of place.

"I wonder how much longer he will be," she muttered to herself, not realizing the man she was speaking about just came upon her sitting there.

For the moment he was mesmerized by how she was sitting and wearing. He wanted to interrupt her thoughts, letting her know he was there, but he didn't want to startle her either. "I'm surprised you're still up," he replied gently after staring at her for several minutes.

Her head whipped around, slightly startled by his words. She looked up at him. "Couldn't sleep. Being in a strange home, in another world even is quite unsettling."

"I suppose that can happen," he agreed. "The Head Captain wishes to meet you tomorrow. And since you've already met Shunsui and Retsu and of course you know me, you'll meet the other eight remaining Captains."

"Oh…" she trailed. "I suppose it's best to get that done and over with now." She then gave a slight shiver. To her though she wasn't sure if it was from being in the presence of the man before her in her nightclothes or if the air was chilly.

Jushiro saw her shiver. "Are you cold? You didn't have to wait outside for me you know. Actually you didn't have to wait up for me at all." He offered his hand to her, to help her up.

Taking his proffered hand, she then offered her other hand to him. First, she pulled her feet up onto the wooden planks of the bridge before allowing him to fully help her to stand. "Thank you," she shyly replied, feeling how strong and warm his hands were.

He gave her a gentle smile. "Would you like some warm milk before bed? I'm told it can help the body go to sleep.

She returned his gaze and smiled. "That would be great." She looked down at herself, realizing she was dressed in strange clothes to him. "I apologize for my state of dress. This is actually what many humans wear to bed, if any at all, that is... well minus the housecoat, that is." Beneath her light blue housecoat, she wore a pale green sleeveless nightgown. The bottom of the nightgown, actually extended a little longer than the housecoat and the robe went nearly to her ankles.

Jushiro gave her a strange look. "Do not apologize," he stated. "Just because what you are wearing may seem strange doesn't mean you should make an apology. You are here as my guest and I want you to be comfortable. Don't feel you have to apologize for something you're used to doing or wearing."

Sasha was a little surprised by his statement. This man was truly trying to help her through this new change and make her feel at ease about all that was going on. She couldn't help but smile once again. "You really are a kind person. I've never met anyone quite like you before. I wish there were more men on Earth like you."

He smiled once again. "I will take that as a compliment."

With his hand still in hers, the two went inside, making their way through the living room and out onto the other bridge leading to the kitchen where he made her some warm milk. Just as he was handing it to her, she then noticed, he seemed to be standing a little rigid. She knew stress when she saw it, since she went through a major stress cycle for a few years. Once taking a drink, she rested the drink on the counter and stepped over to him.

"Jushiro, is something the matter? You seem a bit tense. You were not so tense last night."

He seemed a bit startled by her question. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing really, that you should be concerned about." Jushiro left the kitchen and went to the living room, taking a seat on his sofa.

' _Oh no you don't,'_ she thought. _'You're not getting away from me that easily.'_

Grabbing her drink, she followed him into the living, taking a seat beside him. "Come on. I know something is bothering you. I can see it. I may just be a mere human, but I know stress when I see it. You're looking at someone who lived it for four years."

With a sigh, he looked at her. "I'm just slightly worried on who wants you and why. Plus concerned in how I could help make your stay here to be more pleasant. You've lost many things in your apartment and you can't communicate with your friends either. That has to be tough on you."

She nodded, a little sad. "Yes, it is a bit tough on me. But I'll manage. If I lived four years in hell with my ex-husband, I'm sure being here will be more like a walk in a park."

"I have no doubt in my mind that would be true, however there are going to be some people who will protest against you being here and you need to be prepared for that. Also not all Soul Reapers are kind and gentle."

"Like yourself?" Resting her drink down on the table in front of her, she pulled her legs up on the sofa, resting her hands against his arms. She could feel the muscles moving through his haori and uniform and could feel he was very tense. She had to do something to calm his nerves. She knew he wasn't exactly the healthiest man in the Soul Society even if some human with phenomenal powers healed him. She couldn't heal him completely.

"Jushiro, I've lived through 6 years of marriage. You don't have to keep a strong front up for my sake. Yes, at first I was quite overwhelmed. I am still getting used to all this information, but there is nothing I can do. You're doing your job to the best of your abilities. As for those you know, I say 'let them throw what they want at me'. I can deal with it. It can't be any worse than learning you're from another world who happens to be over 2000 years old."

For someone who knew the gentle Captain for a week, sure was worried about him. Perhaps it was because of the kindness he was showing towards her and she felt she could trust him. Whatever the full reason was, Sasha felt the need to give him reassurance, though he had been alive longer than Jesus had been dead.

"I'm fine, I promise." Jushiro gave her a small smile as he moved one arm, forcing her to let go so he could rest a hand on hers, "Now you should get some rest. I don't want you exhausted for when you meet the other Captains and it wouldn't surprise me if the Lieutenants were there as well and so far you've only met one. I don't have a Lieutenant anymore."

"Why not?" she asked.

"He was killed some time ago when his wife was absorbed into a Hollow and she slaughtered many of my men who died thinking she did it. That day was very hard for me, seeing all those who served under me be killed by the person they thought they could trust."

"How awful," Sasha said, feeling sad by the information. "And you've never taken the time to find another?"

He shook his head. "None has ever, so far, been able to fulfill his shoes. There were times I was encouraged to recruit another, but none ever passed. However, there is a likely candidate being looked into, so hopefully soon, the position will be rectified."

Sasha finished her milk just as a yawn disrupted her. "Guess the milk is working. Perhaps I should try and get some sleep."

"Yes, that would be a good idea. Tomorrow after the meeting, we'll see about getting you some more things so you won't be so bored. I'll probably assign you a bodyguard while I'm working so you can move around the Seireitei."

"That is kind of you." She stood from the sofa, getting ready to go off to bed. She turned to see he wasn't moving. Planting her hands on her hips, she frowned. "Hey! If you want me to rest, you must as well. I refused to go to sleep unless you are resting too."

He blinked, surprised by her sudden outburst. He smiled once again. "I suppose that is only fair." He stood. "Why don't I walk you to your room?"

She smiled back, frown disappearing. "That is acceptable."

Taking her hand once more, not realizing he did, but she did, which caused her heart to skip a beat, the two walked to the spiral stairs. Unlike the first time, he kept a hold of her hand as the two ascended. Upon reaching her room, he stopped to face her.

"Have yourself a good night," he replied.

"You too," she said. "And thanks again for everything you have done for me. I hope this arrangement isn't for too long. I don't want to feel like I'm imposing."

"Nonsense," he shook his head. "You could never impose. It's actually kind of nice having a guest here. It's been awhile since I had one." Realizing he had a hold of her hand, he lifted her hand up until it was high enough for him to bend a bit, lips touching the back of her hand.

She felt herself flush as his lips touched her skin. She wanted to say something just then but no words could form. All she could do was stare at his bent head until he was satisfied enough to lift his head, looking into her blue eyes once more.

"Good night, Sasha," he said quietly, releasing her hand.

"Good…night… Jushiro," she quietly stuttered, allowing her hand to drop to her side. That same hand then slid her door open and she took a step backwards into the room.

As she stepped into her room, he slowly turned, heading to his own. He couldn't believe he just kissed her hand. But at the same time it just felt right for him to do so. She was a very kind woman, even if she was human and she was beautiful too. Of course that wasn't the first time he did it.

For Sasha, she too was surprised by his kiss, even if it was only the back of the hand. But it was still very gentlemen like and he was very gentle towards her. He was basically everything she wanted in a man. If he weren't a Soul Reaper… literally a spirit from another world… it would be easy to fall in love with him.


End file.
